


Circus

by R_Sublett



Category: Smosh, Smosh Games, Smosh Squad
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Smosh Games - Freeform, Smosh Squad - Freeform, Stripper AU, smosh - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2018-12-18 02:11:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11864460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_Sublett/pseuds/R_Sublett
Summary: Olivia Sui works as a performer in a popular night club in NYC. Her life is filled with luxuries and bonuses, but the most prominent thing she has is unrequited love. How will she over come her crush on Courtney Miller, or will she get over it at all?





	1. Prying

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm so excited to introduce this new fic to you guys! I'm so excited to work on it and I've got a great story planned. I hope you stay tuned for more and thank you so much to everyone who will read this or has read my past work!

Originally the plan was to stay at Circus until Olivia could pay off her college debt but somehow she just ended up staying. Her bills were paid off, she wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck but instead living a pretty luxurious life, and she liked the job anyways. And that is how Olivia Sui became a stripper and stayed one for the past four years.  
She stumbled into her apartment after a Friday night show, grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, and went to her room to wind down from the night. Olivia took the costume she wore out of her bag and threw it in the corner of the room while making a mental note to do laundry the next day. Wiping some of the sweat off her brow she drank about half of her water and walked to the bathroom to remove her makeup and brush her teeth so she could finally go to sleep. It was about 3:30 in the morning and the New York night life was dying down and so was Olivia’s energy.  
As she removed her colorful eye makeup and red lipstick after tying her hair into a bun and as she brushed her teeth her roommate and coworker walked in. Shayne, also known as Maverick onstage, had somehow became her roommate only because he was looking for an apartment at the same time as her. Being roommates with Shayne was supposed to be part time but after the second year of living with him she realized that would not be the case. Living with Shayne wasn’t bad, he kept clean and didn’t cause problems, it was the fact that he was so mysterious was what irked her. Shayne, was known to be the quiet mysterious one not just in real life but also on stage. No one really knew anything about Shayne except the fact that he was clever and witty and the clubs most popular performer. None of her coworkers knew if Shayne liked girls or boys or even both, he was popular amongst both genders and treated them equally while performing but he never admitted to anything. Olivia had to admit, the guy was stunning. He had dirty blond hair with piercing blue eyes and a sculpted body and usually had a well maintained scruff on his face. His smile was killer and his voice was melodic and on top of that he was a triple threat when it came to performing. He did killer moves on the pole, sensual lap dances, and always did private dances for anyone who was willing to pay, and recently he asked Olivia to teach him a couple moves on the aerial hoop.   
Shayne murmured a hello to Olivia when he walked in the room only wearing a pair of gym shorts that were hanging low on his body and still in a full face of makeup that Sarah had done for him while they were pre gaming. He removed his makeup and quickly brushed his teeth and secluded himself in his room until he would have to get up the next day. Shortly after he left Olivia finished up in the bathroom and went to her room where she changed into her pjs and slid under her comforter. Before calling it a night she checked her various social media apps and while checking Instagram her feed was filled with pictures of the one and only Courtney Miller.   
She had taken the night off to spend some time with her sister in town and from what it looked like the two of them had gone clubbing. Her Instagram and Snapchat stories were packed with videos of her in a low-cut bodycon dress dancing with boys and her sister. Olivia felt a pang of jealously as she watched the stories. It was a stupid feeling yet she felt it all the time. Olivia had come to terms about her sexuality years ago, but having a crush on Courtney was killing her. She had the crush for about two years and it had become exhausting. Seeing Courtney go out with guys, confide to Olivia about her crushes on co workers, or just even talk to Olivia made the dark haired girl scream internally. It sucked, it absolutely sucked yet that was her life. Olivia shut off her phone, plugged it in, and rolled over in bed and soon drifted off to sleep.

+++  
Olivia woke up at around 10 the next morning and made coffee with the french press for herself and Shayne if he wanted any. She drank it while admiring the view from the kitchen window that overlooked part of the city. After drinking she changed out of her pjs and into some leggings and a sports bra and connected her phone to the speaker in the kitchen and started to play her workout playlist. Olivia did her warm up stretches and exercises and after she was done with that she walked over to the living room space in the apartment and jumped up on the aerial hoop Anthony installed in the apartment.   
“Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez was playing on the speaker, a slower song that was good for warming up on the hoop. She moved her body into the Mermaid pose so she was holding the hoop with one hand and her body was gracefully extended through the hoop and after holding that position for a few seconds she transitioned into the pose where she held the hoop behind her and leaned out on her knees. After a couple more basic poses an upbeat song started to play and Olivia moved on to more complex positions. She did a couple different styles of front balances, a waist balance, and even some moves that incorporated the splits. She was so intune with her body and the music that while she gracefully changed positions she kept her eyes closed, which of course kept her from noticing Shayne coming back from his morning workout.  
“Before we go to Sarah’s place tonight she asked if we could pick up take-out for everyone.” Shayne sad casually as he turned down the music coming from the speakers. Olivia’s eye’s opened and she steadied herself on the hoop after almost falling off of it. “We just have to pick it up and pay Sarah back, is there anything in particular that you want or do you just want the usual?” He asked as he was looking at his phone while grabbing some water from the fridge.  
“Tell her I’ll just have my usual.” Olivia said as she positioned herself on the hoop so she was just sitting on it while having crossed legs. The hoop was still slowly spinning but after a while it stopped and she was left facing Shayne up in the air. Her workout started to set in and Olivia noticed how tired her muscles felt, she was going to have to rest for a bit before going to Sarah’s. “What time?”  
“Be there by 6 o’clock like always.” He took a swig from his water and wiped some of the sweat off his face with his towel. “I’d say we leave around 5:15 so we can catch the train and get the food and be there on time.”  
“M’kay.” Olivia said as she rested her forehead on the side of the hoop for a few moments. “Please tell me you’re showering before we go, you smell worse than usual.”  
“You're not smelling too fresh yourself.” Shayne said dryly while giving her a look. He watched her rest her head and breathe deeply on the hoop. “What the hell is going on with you anyways?” He asked.  
“I’m just tired Shayne.”  
“No you’re acting weird.” He stated flatly. Shayne drank the rest of his water and grabbed two more out of the fridge and handed one to his roommate.   
“Oh and you never act weird.” Olivia said while rolling her eyes and accepting the water.  
“For the past couple of months you’ve been acting weird and slightly awkward towards the others, and while it hasn’t been affecting your stage persona it could in the future.”  
“What do you care?”  
“Pretty sure that me and all the others aren’t just your coworkers but also your friends, and even though I’m the only one noticing someone else might and confront you about it more publicly than I am.” He pointed out. Olivia looked at him skeptically, she could never read him. His face was always so neutral which was so frustrating. “And maybe the person who confronts you will be the exact person you don’t want to talk to about whatever you’re upset about.” Shayne was now standing in front of her while looking up at the girl as she sat on the hoop sipping her water.  
“Quit trying to read me Shayne.”  
“Obviously I’m doing something right if you’re going to react like that.” Shayne drank some more of his water and walked off to the bathroom to take a shower. Olivia was left sitting on the hoop feeling paranoid.

+++

That afternoon Olivia took a nap after showering and doing laundry. At around 4:45 she got up and threw her hair into a bun and put on some gym shorts and a t-shirt along with her sneakers and grabbed her bag with her heels in it. Sarah had texted her earlier and told her that she had some new costumes prepared for everyone so Olivia just threw another water into her bag and headed out the door with Shayne.  
The two caught the train that would take them to Hell's Kitchen where Sarah’s apartment was located along with the club close by. They grabbed the takeout from the small Chinese restaurant and walked a few minutes to Sarah’s apartment while each of them held several bags of food. Sarah buzzed them in and Wes met them in the lobby to help them with the food.  
The apartment was already filled with everyone from the club. Ian, Anthony, and Joven were sitting on the couch overlooking Joven’s laptop while making the final changes to tonight’s set list. Circus, the name of the club that Ian and Anthony founded years ago, was one of the most popular well established strip clubs in New York City which meant that several high rollers came to the club every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Olivia assumed that the three of them were also probably going over the reserved private dances that many of her friends did, Shayne probably had the most like always. Olivia never really like private dances, she liked the freedom her hoop gave her and didn’t mind the occasional stage routine she had to put on.   
Her friends dug into the food Wes and Shayne helped carry in and Olivia grabbed the small carton of Beef Lo Mein she had ordered for herself. As she opened the box and looked around at all her friends   
she mentally prepared herself for the night ahead of her.


	2. Not So Bad

“Alright everyone, let’s gather around!” Anthony shouted from his spot on the couch. It was 6:30 and Olivia finished her dinner and brushed her teeth in Sarah’s bathroom. Ian, Anthony, and Joven had just finished going over the night’s itinerary and were going to announce the game plan for the night, say if any celebrities were coming, who would be in the private rooms first tonight.  
“Okay, we are going to start off the night by having Olivia and Mari do their routine to Sweatpants by Gambino, after that Wes and Flitz are doing their routine to Famous by Kanye. We’ll have a little bit of roaming period where lapdancers can do their thing and private dances will begin, this will be at around 9:45. Noah and Damien you guys have been booked as a pair for a bachelorette party coming tonight and your dance will start at around 10.” Ian clicked on some things in his laptop and looked over the rest of the schedule. Boze you have a total of two bookings tonight, one is for a bachelor party at 10 the other is for a high roller visiting from Spain starting at 11:15 so hopefully you’ll have some time in between to take a break. And of course Shayne you have three bookings tonight, one at 9:45, another at 10:30, and the last at 11:20. Joven managed to get them all in the beginning stages of the night so you could take a break before taking your spot on the pole at around 12:50.”  
“Like always I have the extra details for the private dances so talk to me about them before you meet up with the clients. For the rest of the performances and pole spots, after Shayne’s last private dance Boze and Tanner are performing at around 11:50 with their routine to Here by Alessia Cara and after that Courtney is taking her spot on the pole. Mari and Olivia will be doing Starboy after that and with some free time in between that should give us enough time till Shayne goes on pole.” Anthony said as he adjusted his reading glasses and stared at the computer screen. Keith is taking his spot on the pole after him and after that we’ll give time for lap dancers to do their thing, Mari and Olivia can do some free style hoop stuff and whoever wants to take the pole can do their thing.” It never ceased to amaze how well thought out and meticulously planned everything was when it came to the club. Everything had a distinct schedule which Olivia was thankful for, things always ran much smoother that way.  
After everyone finished their dinner Sarah unveiled the new costumes she had been working on. Courtney squealed at the new clothes and several people high-fived and hugged the brunette. Her work with clothes was always so amazing and never fails to make breathtaking costumes and her makeup skills were stunning. Of course to stick with the name and aesthetic of the whole club the clothes looked like scandalous clothing a circus performer would wear, but it was also classy and well thought out. The color theme Sarah chose to use this time was silver, dark blue, and black. Olivia liked the change because usually their clothes were warmer toned and had gold accents.   
Olivia changed into her costume which was a dark blue bra with silver trim and black booty shorts with the same silver trim. Like always she matched with her hoop partner, Mari but she didn’t mind. Mari and Olivia decided that for tonight they would braid their hair into one tight dutch braid going down their backs and took turns braiding one another's hair. For the most part they looked the same, Mari just had slightly tanner skin and chalky purple hair; but they twinned enough and that was what they were going for.   
Most of the boys had the same thing to wear just with different patterns and occasionally a different cut. All of them had blue, black, or silver booty shorts with different accents such as fringe that hung down or suspenders that hung on their shoulders or maybe a vest or top. For the most part they usually just went shirtless. Flitz was usually the only one brave enough to just wear a speedo but for this set of costumes he convinced Wes to wear one as well. The glitter blue speedo complemented Wes’s silver hair that also glittered as well.  
Shayne had on a pair of shimmering silver shorts with a long sleeved black mesh top. The mesh accentuated his muscles and Olivia complemented Shayne on his costume. Like always he just smirked and made some weird remark, another attempt to understand him failed. Olivia just rolled her eyes at her roommate and looked around at the others changing and starting to apply their base makeup. Her eyes latched onto the wavy haired blond across the room who was complimenting Noah on his new red hair and glittery suspenders.  
She was wearing an all black outfit that looked like it was made out of velvet. Olivia noticed that Courtney always liked velvet and a part of her outfit always had some aspect of it. Her bra was black and it attached to her black velvet panties with two criss cross straps that went across her stomach. It was simple, yet classy and complementing. She always had such nice taste.  
Olivia hastily applied her base makeup consisting of foundation, brows, mascara, and eyeliner and waited her turn to get her makeup done by Sarah. It seemed that Sarah had chosen to just go with simple makeup for the night rather than extravagant face paint like she usually did. The focus for the night was going to be the costumes to see if people liked them or not. Oliva assumed people would love them no matter what. Sarah did Olivia’s makeup like how the other girls had their makeup done which was just a heavy black smokey eye and a nude lip. The boys just got a thin strip of liner and left it at that.  
It was around 8:15 when everyone was set and ready to go. They all put on their shorts and t-shirts from before over their costumes and headed out of Sarah’s apartment to make it to the club. The sun had already set by then and Olivia shivered slightly at the chilly weather. It was around the middle of fall and winter would be coming soon, she cursed herself for not bringing a jacket instead.   
The club was only five minutes from Sarah’s place and they all filed in and went to the back room to stretch and apply any last minute touch ups. Shortly after they all arrived David and Sohinki arrived. They were the two bartenders for the club and Olivia loved watching them do all their cool tricks as they made drinks. When she wasn’t on the hoop or performing on stage she was found at the bar, not drinking, just hanging out. It was her favorite area in the club other than her hoop which was up on the left side of the stage while Mari’s was on the right.   
The pole was out away from the stage and located in the middle of the floor which was surrounded by circular tables and cushy chairs for the guests to sit on. Ian and Anthony were overlooking the floor to make sure no messes from the night before were left out. 

+++

Olivia and Mari finished up their routine to Sweatpants which was their most exhausting routine in their arsenal. Half the time they were upside down and there were a couple of combos they threw in during the faster parts of the song. Mari grabbed a water for Olivia out of the mini fridge in the back room and the two slumped down on the couch. Noah, Damien, Boze and Shayne were still in the back room and weren’t planning on coming out until they had to do their private dances.   
Noah was putting his contacts in and fixing his messy reddish hair while Shayne and Boze were doing something on their phones. Damien was sitting in the corner reading a book. Olivia felt the base from the Kanye song playing rumble in the floors and wiped some of the sweat off her body with a towel that Boze threw at her. She rehydrated and wished she could take a nap. While Saturday's usually meant you got the most money they were also tiring being that it was the third night in a row you had to perform. After a but of sitting and resting she peeled herself off the couch and rejoined the floor.  
The floor was full of sweaty men and women watching and screaming as Flitz and Wes performed on stage. After squeezing past the people she had finally made it to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools.  
“Now what’s a girl like you doing in a dump like this?” Sohinki asked jokingly as he pretended to shine a whiskey glass. Olivia smiled softly and jokingly nudged him from across the bar.   
“Yeah, pretty girl like you shouldn’t be at some club. She should have a fella taking care of her!” David added to play along with his friend. He served a customer their drink in a fancy way that involved juggling glasses and catching them behind his back.  
“Well, it’s not so bad.” Olivia said slyly. Sohinki poured her a ginger ale and slid her a granola bar out of the stash he kept under the counter for all the performers. Wes and Flitz finished up their song and it was time for mingling while private dances ensued. Olivia watched as Courtney greeted a bunch of guys that came for a good time and proceeded to grind on them which made them go insane.  
“Not so bad?” David asked from behind the counter as he watched Olivia watch Courtney. Olivia shot him a look. Sohinki and David were the only people that knew about her crush and she feared Shayne was going to find out soon.  
“It could be worse.” Olivia simply stated as she took a sip of her drink.


	3. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone who has read, commented, or given me kudos on this fic! I really hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for taking the time to read!

Olivia’s phone went off at around 10 o’clock in the morning and she shut it off hastily so she could stop hearing the blaring alarm. The club let out at around 2 in the morning and she left with sore muscles and smudged makeup. Sundays were everyone’s off from their club job or any part time job they had so they could all have time to recover. Olivia layed back down in her bed and nestled herself underneath the comforters until she realized she had agreed to go to brunch with all the other girls. While groaning and muttering complaints to herself she pulled herself out of bed and went into the kitchen.  
Shayne was already up and brewed coffee for himself and his roommate and he was sitting on the balcony in the back of the apartment. Olivia glanced over at him as he sat behind the glass screen doors reading his book and sipping on his coffee, she wondered what time he got up. She then quickly poured herself a cup and checked the time, 10:15, and realized she had to get a move on if she wanted to make it to brunch in an hour.   
She downed a mall cup of coffee and figured she could just get more at brunch and dashed to the bathroom so she could squeeze in a shower and put on at least a little makeup before heading out. As the water heated up for her shower she texted Boze and asked for the address and asked if where they were going was fancy so she would know what to wear. Boze said Mari chose the Michelangelo Hotel on 51st Street.  
“Great.” Olivia muttered to herself as she hopped in the shower, “I have to actually look nice.” Olivia quickly showered and dried her hair then did the bare minimum of makeup. She threw on a white t-shirt and black jeans along with her leather jacket and before she left she grabbed a pair of black heels. Checking herself in the mirror she shrugged and could just say she was going for a ‘minimalist’ look as an excuse for being too tired to actually put effort into her look.  
“Going out for brunch?” Shayne asked, coming out of nowhere and scaring the crap out of Olivia.  
“Yeah.” Olivia answered as she grabbed her wallet and keys and shoved them into her bag.  
“M’kay, don’t be out too late. I would like to go grocery shopping some time today.” Olivia rolled her eyes and waved goodbye to Shayne. 

+++

“You know, for someone who claims she doesn’t know much about her roommate you and Shayne sure do spend quite a lot of time together.” Sarah said as she ate her omelette. Olivia sipped on her mimosa and rolled her eyes.  
“Yeah are you sure you don’t know anything about Mysterious Maverick that we don’t? With all your grocery store runs and breakfasts together you gotta know something.” Mari said.  
“I’m telling you Shayne literally never shares anything about himself other than the fact that he enjoys working out and enjoys reading. Can we change the subject? I really don’t feel like talking about my creepy roommate.” Olivia said as she spread some jam on a piece of toast.  
“More like you’re super hot roommate.” Boze said jokingly. The girls laughed except for Olivia who mockingly gagged at her comment.  
“You guys are gross!” She said while trying to suppress her giggles.  
“Oh come on Olivia, you have to admit that he’s beautiful! He’s the most popular boy at the club for a reason!” Courtney said. As the other girls laughed and ate their food Olivia paused and held onto that comment. Of course she was going to go after Shayne, he was hot and mysterious and cool and Olivia felt like she didn’t have that. Her mood started to go downhill from that point.  
“Uh, yeah I guess he’s pretty.” Olivia said trying to fit in with the group. She didn’t speak much during brunch after that and exhaustion from the weekend started to step in as she ate. Olivia rode the subway home and texted Shayne she was almost to the apartment so he could get ready to go right when she got there. She never really understood the grocery store trips she made with Shayne but he was always insistent on them.  
“I don’t want to hear you complain about not buying the food you wanted if I went to the store by myself, so if you come there’s no excuses.” Is what Shayne would always say. Olivia just believed that he would get lonely if he went alone.  
Olivia reached the apartment and Shayne rushed outside once she texted him that she was there, then they started to walk towards the farmers market that was near close and after they planned on going to the small grocer down the street. Olivia was able to purchase a couple of assorted fruits and vegetables and Shayne bought some fish that they could cook up for themselves later in the week. The stayed till closing and after went to the grocer where Olivia picked up a five pound bag of rice for herself and a couple of other things. By about 5 they were done and went home to prepare dinner.   
“So have you figured shit out in that head of yours?” Shayne asked as he grilled some leftover beef from the previous week.  
“What shit?”  
“The shit I pointed out yesterday, how you’re acting weird lately and how it could mess up things at the club.” Shayne said casually which frustrated Olivia.  
“Nothing is going on Shayne just butt out.”  
“Something’s got to be going on if you want me to butt out of your shit that apparently doesn’t exist.” Shayne turned off the stove and started to plate their food and Olivia sighed and placed her head in her hands. This weekend was killing her physically and mentally and Shayne pestering her with prying questions wasn’t helping.  
“Shut up Shayne.” Olivia snapped.  
“No.” He said firmly. Shayne turned to her and a scowl was plastered on his face. “Would it kill you to know that I actually care about you!” Olivias eyebrows were knitted together and she stared at Shayne. He huffed and sat down next to her at their kitchen table. “Olivia I’m worried that something is seriously wrong.” Olivia continued to stare down Shayne not because she was angry but because she was confused. Shayne was worried about her? She never thought of him as that close of a roommate or even a friend that he would even notice her acting differently.  
“I-I’m just trying to get over something.” She finally said. She slumped down in her chair and her face started to flush, already embarrassed at what she was going to have to admit. “I had a stupid crush on one of our friends and I can’t seem to get over it no matter how hard I try.”  
“Have you ever considered that they might like you back?” Shayne asked. Olivia’s interest perked, at his question and was still confused. He was asking things a real friend would say rather than pestering her with questions about who she liked.  
“They wouldn’t like me.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Positive.” Shayne shrugged and grabbed their plates off the counter and they ate in silence while Shayne read his book and Olivia messed around on her phone.

+++  
Olivia was laying in her bed at around 9:30 at night when Shayne burst through her door and shouted “Anthony!” at full volume. Olivia practically jumped out of bed at the scare and Shayne just laughed when she fell on the floor. After she glared at him he composed himself and went back to what he was saying. “It’s Anthony right?”  
“Why the hell would I tell you?”  
“I’m your roommate and coworker and friend, arguably best friend.”  
“You are not my best friend.”  
“Name one of our other friends that you spend more time with.”  
“Boze.”  
“Doesn’t count, you guys work your second jobs together.” Shayne said as he layed down on the bed next to Olivia. She scooted away from him awkwardly and he rolled over on his side and propped his head up with his hand.   
“Fuck you then.” Olivia huffed as she propped herself up like Shayne.   
“Wes?” Shayne asked. Olivia shook her head no. “Damien? Tanner? Flitz?” Olivia still shook her head no and started to giggle at Shayne who was getting agitated. “Me?” Shayne said jokingly as he wagged his eyebrows suggestively.  
“Gross!” Olivia shouted as she punched his shoulder.   
“Okay fine, give me one clue then.”  
“I did! They don’t like me!” Shayne rolled his eyes and settled himself in Olivia’s bed. He thought silently for a moment and mulled over what Olivia had said.  
“It’s Courtney isn’t it?” Shayne said with a smirk on his face and Olivia felt her face grow hotter. “Bingo!” Shayne shouted causing Olivia’s hands to cover her face as she let out a large groan. Things suddenly felt much worse than before.


	4. Starbucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you so much for over 100 notes already! I really hope you guys are enjoying the fic and thank you so much to everyone who has left comments or given me kudos, it's very much appreciated!

Everyone at Circus with the exception of Ian, Anthony, and Joven, had a job outside of the club that they worked Monday through Wednesday. So while Ian and Anthony took care of business at the club because they owned it and Joven was their light, sound, and stage technician; everyone else worked simple part time jobs that you wouldn’t think a stripper would do.  
Olivia knew that David and Sohinki were of course bartenders outside of work, Sohinki worked as a bartender at the upscale hotel, the Conrad while David preferred the quiet bartending job at a small pub near his apartment. Sarah worked as a tailor of course because of her amazing sewing skills, Shayne and Tanner worked together at some high end French restaurant as waiters, and Flitz and Wes also worked together at one of the big Targets in the city. Mari worked at Forever 21 in Time Square, Courtney at Topshop in Soho, and Olivia once heard Keith say he worked on a food truck that sold barbeque and Noah was a pizza delivery boy. And finally, Olivia and Boze worked together as baristas at one of the many Starbucks in the city.  
Her alarm rang at 8 and Olivia quickly got ready. She drank her coffee and showered and decided to not wear any makeup for the day because her face needed a break and she hated working register anyways. Then Olivia tied her hair up in a quick bun and put on her black t-shirt and jeans and as she went out the door she grabbed her purse and green apron.  
“I’ll be back at five, what are plans for dinner?” Olivia shouted as she put on her sneakers. Shayne was out on the balcony reading like he always did every morning and his shift started at 11.  
“I’ll pick something up on the way home, I get off at seven like always.” Shayne shouted back while he kept his eyes on his book. Olivia said a quick goodbye and rushed out of the apartment so she could get to work on time. 

+++

Olivia threw the correct powders and syrups into the blender to make a mocha frap and waited as the blended roared and made the drink. It was near the end of the morning rush and Olivia and Boze were rushing around behind the counter while their co worker took orders. Her feet already started to ache and she felt her stomach rumble signaling she needed food. She made a mental note to remember to eat a fruit before the mid afternoon rush started.  
At around 11 the crowd left and the Starbucks was barren of people which gave Olivia and Boze some time to clean up the mess they made and try and cram in some lunch. Their coworker said he would run across the street to the sub shop and grab them something which both Olivia and Boze agreed to because they were both starving. After he left as Olivia was wiping down one of the counters Boze popped a shocking question.  
“So, when did this whole thing with Courtney start?” Boze asked with a sly grin on her face. Olivia stopped wiping the counted and felt her heart race and her cheek flush.  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Olivia asked while turning around slowly. Boze just rolled her eyes and continued to clean one of the blenders in the sink.  
“Don’t play dumb Olivia, I’m your best friend besides Shayne.”  
“Why does everyone think he’s my best friend?”  
“Because he is, moving on. When did this whole crush start?” Olivia sighed in defeat, Boze would just keep asking questions and it would come out eventually, admitting to her situation was less painful for Olivia.  
“I don’t know, a while? How did you know?” She asked. Boze just shrugged her shoulders.  
“I’ve had my suspicions and the way you acted at brunch yesterday kind of confirmed them. You got all weird when Courtney started talking about Shayne and how good looking he is and lately you’ve just been acting kind of off. You stopped being all peppy and started being quiet and stuff, especially around Courtney. As if you were afraid of embarrassing yourself.” Olivia’s brows knitted themselves together again and shrugged. Boze read her like a goddamn book. “So how are you going to ask her out?” Boze asked which broke the small moment of silence.  
“Excuse me?” Olivia asked sounding appalled. What Boze had asked was insane, out of the question, a big no no.  
“You’ve got to ask her out somehow Liv, you can’t hide your feelings forever.” Boze said casually as if what she had suggested wasn’t the craziest thing in the world.  
“I don’t plan on asking her out! I plan on suppressing my feelings and making them go away!” Olivia defended.  
“That’s just plain dumb Olivia, things will come out and if you suppress them like that things will just come out in a way messier way than you’d like them to.”  
“I-I can’t just ask her out Boze! I’d ruin the friendship we have, our work life, our everything! Courtney doesn’t even like girls!”  
“You don’t know that.”  
“Have you ever seen her with a girl? Even at the club?” Olivia asked. Boze looked up and thought about what Olivia asked which made Olivia say, “Ha! She hasn’t! She doesn’t even grind on girls at the club she’s just that straight! See, I have no chance with her.”  
“Why do you seem oddly excited that you have no chance with her?” Olivia rolled her eyes again and went back to cleaning the counters and restocking cups. “Whatever Olivia if you don’t even want to try to ask out your crush then it goes to prove that you’re just as lame as I thought you were.” Boze said jokingly knowing that it would stir something up in Olivia’s head.  
“Hey!” Olivia shouted at her.

+++

Olivia was back on her rin simple hanging upside down from it and letting it spin her around while the song Fashion by Jon Bellion played over the speaker. For the rest of work Boze would not drop the subject of Courtney and took every opportunity she could to make fun of Olivia for her crush. But the problem was that Boze’s suggestion and comments really did provoke a thought in Olivia’s head. Should she ask Courtney out?  
“I got pizza.” Shayne said from out of nowhere which made Olivia’s eyes shoot open and break her train of thought. She said up on her hoop and Shayne paused her music and pulled out some plates for them to use.  
“Boze knows.” Olivia said quietly.  
“Oh good, about time people started realizing. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those things where everyone knows about your crush on Courtney expect Courtney of course. A typical rom com plot, you know like those ones that are on the Lifetime channel.” Olivia looked at him confused and just decided to not question his strange comment.  
“She suggested I ask her out.”  
“Okay?”  
“Okay what?” Olivia asked while still perched on her hoop. Shayne stood in front of her and gave her a plate with pizza on it.  
“Are you going to ask her out?”  
“I mean, I don’t really know. I don’t even know if she has an interest in girls.”  
“So find out.”  
“I can’t just walk up to her one day at work and say ‘Oh hey, do you like girls? I’m asking for a friend.”  
“But you could try and stir up some feelings in her.”  
“Okay but how would I do that?”  
“Date someone and maybe she’ll get jealous.” Shayne simply stated. He crammed a huge bit of pizza in his mouth and started to take off the black tie on his neck that went with his work uniform.  
“Who the hell would I date?”  
“Me.”  
“You. You want me to date you. No offense but I feel like that would be very unlikely.” Shayne narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. “Fine.” Olivia said giving in, “I’ll ‘date’ you. But what made you so eager?”  
“Just helping my best friend.” Shayne said in between bites of pizza.  
“Sure you’re not the one trying to make someone else jealous?” Olivia asked as she slid down from the hoop and stood in front of Shayne. She looked up at him and into his bright blue eyes and he stared back blankly. He smirked and swallowed his food.  
“Yeah, sure.” Shayne said sounding like he was joking yet sincere at the same time. He grabbed another slice of pizza and his book and went out to the balcony. Olivia stood in the kitchen for a moment trying to figure out Shayne’s motives but figured she wouldn’t be able to like always. So instead she just grabbed another slice and two water bottles and joined Shayne out on the balcony.


	5. The Element of Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read my new work, given kudos, or commented. I love writing and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying my story. Also as a side note, this chapter talks about a singer named Rob Thomas who I live and has produced some BOPS over the years. I 10/10 recommend you guys check him out, my favorite songs my him are This Is How A Heart Breaks and Lonely No More.

Thursday quickly approached which meant it was the first club day of the week. When Olivia woke up at around seven, Shayne was already at the gym so Olivia practiced her various routines. She did full choreo for songs such as Needed Me by Rihanna, Bonfire by Childish Gambino, and Thunder by Imagine Dragons. She also ended up perfecting a few moves she was working on and did some freestyle to a couple of Beyonce songs. Once she was finished she was sweaty and ready for breakfast.  
Olivia grabbed a water from the fridge and chugged half of it before grabbing a skillet from a cabinet and a couple eggs from the fridge. As a pad of butter melted on the pan, she switched her music on the phone from the upbeat pop and rap songs to her Rob Thomas playlist. Rob Thomas ws actually her favorite music artist but the only person who knew was Shayne because he also enjoyed music by him and his band, Matchbox 20. Olivia thought it was embarrassing to like his music and always kept it hidden from her friends, most of them just enjoyed the music that played at the club. Lonely No More played over the speaker and Olivia danced and sang along loudly and off tune with the song as she prepared breakfast for herself and Shayne who was probably going to return home soon.  
Just as soon as the song changed to Getting Late, Shayne walked through the door and started to bop along to the music along with his roommate. By the time breakfast was ready the two of them were sweaty and out of breath from all their terrible dancing and cooled off by eating on the balcony.  
“So what are we going to tell the others?” Olivia asked, Shayne cocked his head in confusion until Olivia said, “About us, like we need a back story. How did we become a thing? How long have we been dating?” Shayne nodded and took a bite of his toast.  
“I was thinking we play it off like it’s something brand new. Like so brand new I ask you out in front of Courtney.” He said with a smirk. Olivia considered the idea as she sipped her coffee.  
“I don’t want to seem rude.”  
“Seems pretty rude of her to be so oblivious for your feelings towards her.”   
“Maybe she’s just ignoring them, maybe she just doesn’t like me.”  
“Then it’s rude of her to not confront you about them. Either she’s oblivious or she’s playing a game with you.” Olivia’s eyebrows knitted together at what Shayne said, it kind of made sense but both scenarios made Courtney seem like a bad guy and Olivia didn’t want to be mad at her. Or was Shayne mad at her?  
“Why’d you made it seem like Courtney was the bad guy here?” Olivia asked trying to sound casual. She wanted to try and read Shayne and maybe, just maybe he would hint at his true intentions. “Do you like her or something?”  
“Nope. That’s your job.” Shayne said as he looked at the people below the balcony while chewing on some eggs.   
“Then why’d you make her seem like a villain just now, what do you have against her?” Olivia asked. Shayne paused and tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t give anything away which gave time for Olivia to read his expression and think about what’s been going on in either Courtney or Shayne’s life. She thought about things at the club that had been going on recently until her thoughts brought her back to the brunch she went to on Sunday. Olivia had a vague memory she tried to forget about that involved Courtney going on a date with someone and suddenly Olivia remembered who it was with. She stood up from her chair and pointed a nagging finger at Shayne and screamed,  
“You have a crush on Damien!”   
Shayne’s face went pale and his entire body went stiff. He had slipped up, something from his personal life finally slipped out in front of Olivia and he didn’t know what to do. Olivia took this reaction as being correct and she did a small dance in celebration of being right.  
“Shut up.” Shayne managed to squeak out. Olivia stopped dancing and turned to Shayne who had finally regained color in his skin only this time his face was bright red and he was shaking.   
“Why?” Olivia asked. “Why do you keep stuff so hidden all the time anyways? I’m your roommate and apparently your best friend. So why do you try to keep up a mysterious facade in and out of the club?” Shayne put his hands over his face and sunk down in his chair, he looked utterly defeated. Olivia sat down next to him, now concerned for her friend.  
“Back before I lived in New York City,” Shayne started, “I lived in a shitty town in Virginia where it was basically a crime to like people of the same gender even though this is modern day and not 1980. One day I overshared something with this kid who I thought was my friend and I got in an insane amount of trouble with my family and school and everyone knew about my shit. So I figured when I moved here that if I didn’t share anything about my life I wouldn't be at risk for over sharing something with someone.” He said it slowly and with a shaky voice and at the end he peaked out of the slots of his fingers and looked up at Olivia. Olivia ended up taking a deep breath in and took a leap of faith. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around Shayne’s middle and hugged him tightly. Shayne was slightly shocked at first but eventually hugged her back.  
“Well you’re safe here Shayne.” She said quietly.

+++

The club music boomed as a Nicki Minaj song bellowed throughout Circus. Olivia had just gotten off stage for a duo performance with Mari and headed over to the bar where Courtney was flirting with some guys. There she planned on meeting up with Shayne who would be leaving his last private dance of the night by the time she got there. Sohinki made Olivia a Shirley Temple because it was refreshing and non-alcoholic and Olivia sipped it as she watched Courtney touch some random guy’s arm affectionately. Her blond hair fell back in pretty tendrils and her eye makeup looked glittery and pretty under the low lighting of the club.   
Shayne finally managed to get to the bar and close behind him was Damien. Courtney stopped talking to the random guy and after he left she focused her attention on Damien. Shayne watched with jealousy as the two of them spoke kindly to one another adorned with light touches and small laughs. Courtney ended up seeing Olivia and Shayne out of the corner of her eye and walked over to their end of the bar to join them.  
“Get any good tips yet?” She asked Olivia. Olivia just shrugged and sipped on her drink and looked through the wad of cash stuffed in her bra. There were mainly ones but there were also a couple of twenties and even a fifty. She showed it off to Courtney who just giggled. Olivia watched Courtney throw back the rest of her tequila and wrap her arm around Damien.   
“What the hell do you even do with your money Liv?” Damien asked as he sat down on a bar stool and Courtney sat on his lap. Shayne was fuming and Olivia just tried to keep a calm face even though her eyes screamed ‘murder’.   
“Keep it for a rainy day, or just a good date.” Olivia said as she lightly nudged Shayne’s leg with her foot. Shayne took the hint.  
“Which reminds me, we’re still on for tomorrow morning right?” Shayne asked out of the blue. He lightly placed his hand on Olivia’s shoulder and tried to to look at her as sincerely as he could even though he felt like he was going to puke.  
“Oh yeah don’t even worry about it, coffee first, book store, then the music shop right?” Olivia asked. She placed her hand on top of his and ignored the confused looks she was getting from Courtney and Damien.   
“Yup sounds about right, maybe even a movie. I heard there was a cute indie film playing at the small theatre by our place. Olivia smiled and Shayne smiled back. They turned back to Courtney and Damien who looked concerned and had slightly open mouths.   
“Wow I didn’t really think you guys did stuff together outside of work.” Damien said sounding like he was trying to piece things together.   
“Yeah, I thought you guys were roommates just because you needed a roommate.” Courtney added. Olivia and Shayne shook their heads no and slightly laughed, it was truly an Oscar winning performance.  
“I mean, it’s kind of a new thing. This is what, like our third date?” Olivia asked.  
“Yup! Number three!” Shayne replied. This knocked Courtney and Damien out of the water.  
“What?” The asked at the same time. Olivia smirked on the inside, at least they shocked them. She looked up at the clock over the bar and her and Shayne excused themselves because Ian had scheduled them to do a duo performance for the night. Courtney and Damien were left in shambles at the bar.


	6. Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for over 200 hits! It really makes me happy that you guys are enjoying this story and I hope you stay tuned for the rest!

Shayne walked into the apartment at around seven in the morning after working out. He was running on about four hours of sleep and soon, coffee. The club let out at around one in the morning, it always closed early on Thursday nights, and after he crashed at 1:30 in the morning he woke up at around 5 to get his work out done. He decided to get it done early in the day so he could wake Olivia up early so she could get ready in time for the events he had planned. After taking a quick shower and starting a pot of coffee he woke Olivia up by flickering on her lamp and shaking her softly.  
“What the hell are you doing up so early and why are you waking me up?” Olivia asked sounding groggy as she rubbed her eyes and sat up in the bed.  
“We have our date!” Shayne replied sounding excited.  
“I thought we weren’t actually dating.” Olivia said flatly.  
“Yeah I know, but if we want people to believe us we have to make it seem somewhat legit. I was thinking we could do those things we mentioned to Damien and Courtney yesterday and post us doing them on instagram and snap.” Olivia shrugged and mumbled an agreement and grabbed some clothes she could wear after she took her shower. Shayne got started on breakfast as she got ready.

+++

It was another chilly, rainy day in New York City which meant cozy cafes and hidden shops. As the rain drizzled onto the sidewalks Shayne and Olivia walked down to the bookstore on the corner underneath an umbrella. When they walked in the scent of old paper and cigarettes filled their senses. An old married couple owned the place and both were always smoking a cig, Olivia found that risky considering they owned a shop filled with flammable material.   
Shayne insisted he get a shot of her standing in the middle of the bookshelves and he even put the caption ‘cutie’ on the snap. He posted it on his story knowing full well Courtney and Damien would see it. Olivia decided she should pick out some books for Shayne and he should do the same for her and they could use it as a cute story to tell the other when they asked them about the date later. Shayne picked out Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and Misery by Stephen King for Olivia. She picked out Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Glass Castle Jeanette Walls. At about 9:30 they left for the music shop another block away.  
The rain was pouring even harder by the time they got there and Shayne and Olivia had several text messages from their friends regarding their ‘relationship’. The only person who knew about the whole fae dating thing other than Shayne and Olivia was Boze, their other most trusted friend. Boze sent Olivia a text over Snap of just the laughing emoji. She had also gotten ones from Ian and Mari that said ‘cute’ and a video of Noah just screaming over the picture, that one made Olivia laugh.  
‘Again, since when did this happen?’ Damien asked over text in reference to the photo. Shayne left him on read and did the same to Courtney who had asked a similar question.

+++

“So was that like a first date or something?” Ian asked after he told everyone the schedule for the night. Everyone suddenly started screaming their questions and berating Olivia and Shayne for not telling the group about their relationship.  
“Yeah, I thought you didn’t even like Shayne!” Mari exclaimed.  
“Ouch!” Shayne said in response. “It was our third date and we just wanted to keep things on the down low incase it didn’t work out. Being roommates for so long let us get to know each other and it just sort of happened I guess.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck and wrapped his arm around Olivia’s shoulder. She just nodded along. Everyone ‘awed’ at the whole thing and went back to getting ready for the night.   
Anthony had chosen for them to all where their green and white costumes for the night which meant boys had dark green hot pants with white trim and white ties. This time all the girls matched too with green one piece outfits that were a thong in the back. Olivia pulled out her white strappy heels and put them on and helped Mari zip up and get situated. All the girls braided their hair into two dutch braids and Sarah gave them silver glitter makeup that went on their eyelids and temples. Soon they were ready to go and Olivia put on her leggings and jacket and on the way to the club she held Shayne’s hand. 

+++

It was a weird night. Luckily Olivia didn’t have to do a solo performance which meant she got more time at the bar or was able to freestyle more but the entire time she felt like she was being watched. Well, she was always being watched at the club, but this time it felt hateful. It wasn’t until around 12:30 when she was freestyling on the hoop that she finally caught the look of Courtney Miller’s eyes. Her brows were furrowed and as she gave some random guy a lap dance she looked at Olivia maliciously .  
Could the plan be working or was Courtney mad for other reasons? Olivia chose not to ask and continued to freestyle to the song Cheap Thrills by Sia. As her hopp spun around and she moved into a horizontal split she people watched to see if anyone else looked as upset as Courtney.  
David and Sohinki were doing their thing at the bar, David was making conversation while Sohinki was doing cool bar tricks which were his thing. Her hoop made another slow, smooth spin and she was in a back star which gave customers a good view of her ass. King, aka Flitz, double teaming the pole with Krome, also known as Keith. She watched them spin around slowly and put their legs out in the air and occasionally do some acrobatic moves on the pole. Mari, who went by Vesper, was on the other hoop on the other side of the stage doing a waist balance and Captain, aka Wes, was flirting with some girl and was about to score a lap dance. His silver hair and makeup glittered in the low lighting of the room.  
The base pulsed through Olivia as she continued to look around. Rouge or, Boze, came out of one of the private rooms and was stuffing a wad of cash in her bra and moved to the bar for a water. Shayne was grinding on a girl presumably at her bachelorette party. Noah, aka Prince, was nowhere to be seen which meant he was doing a private dance and Romeo also known as Damien was shamelessly flirting and feeling a girl up at the bar. Olivia caught him glancing at Shayne occasionally which gave her slight hope the plan was working.   
By the time she was done people watching Courtney had moved on from her lap dance and it was time for Axel or, Tanner to do his stage performance. Olivia hopped down from her hoop and went to the bar to grab something to drink from one of the boys. She had a thin layer of sweat on her body and her costume was always sticking to her. Luckily it was reaching the end of the night.  
“Have you noticed that Amber is giving you the evil eye?” Boze asked referring to Courtney. Olivia nodded and drank almost half of her sprite.   
“Either the plan is working or she’s upset about something else.” Olivia commented.  
“Could she be jealous of you dating Shayne, like a year ago they were a thing right?” Boze wondered out loud.  
“But she’s with Damien now and it seems kind of serious so I don’t know why she’d be so upset. If that is the case though we’d be stirring up some serious drama without even meaning to which would be a nightmare. Then why would she be dating Damien then?”  
“Maybe to make Shayne jealous? But I feel like Courtney is way above that so that’s probably not the case.” Boze said. Olivia nodded and took a seat at the bar and wondered what the blond was really thinking.


	7. Watching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Over 300 hits! Thank you so much for all the support and don't ever be afraid to comment, comments are much appreciated and help give me direction for the next chapter!

“I still don’t understand it, a week ago she told me that she hated him.” Courtney whispered to Damien as they sat on Ian’s couch. The group had decided to go to Ian’s house after their night at the club. It was 2:45 in the morning and Courtney was sitting on Damien’s lap and leaning back so she could whisper in his ear. The topic of discussion was Shayne and Olivia, the unlikely couple that they had mixed feelings about.   
“Yeah, Shayne has never shown interest in Olivia. This came out of nowhere. However Shayne hasn’t really shown interest in anyone from what I can tell so maybe he has liked her this whole time.” Damien commented. They watched Olivia and Shayne who were on the other side of the room sitting on bar stools together and sharing a bag of tortilla chips. They looked sweet and Shayne was saying things that made Olivia giggle. Courtney watches as she ruffled Shayne’s hair and poke his side which made him laugh.   
“God, fuck him and his whole ‘mysterious guy’ aesthetic that he keeps up.” Courtney grumbled. She ran her fingers through Damien’s hair which made him purr in the response. “They look so sweet together yet I hate it for some reason.”  
“Agreed, something just feels wrong about it. But that could just be because it came out of nowhere.” Damien said in response.  
“I don’t get why she wouldn’t tell me about it. I thought we were closer than that but I guess not.” The blond and the brunette watched the couple sitting at the bar. Shayne was holding Olivia’s hand and rubbing the back of it with his thumb as he tucked a strand of hair behind Olivia’s ear. The raven haired girl blushed in response and the whole sight made Courtney and Damien want to puke and scream at the same time.   
“Why is it so frustrating and repulsive to look at them?” Damien asked. Courtney nodded her head in agreement. “I thought we were better people than this, we should be happy for them yet for some reason I can’t.”  
“Trust me, I feel the same way. Please promise me you will leave me absolutely wrecked tonight so I can get this image out of my head for a bit.” Courtney wined. Damien nodded and helped Courtney get up so they could head over to his place so he could fulfill his promise. They left after saying goodbye to everyone with a hug, even Shayne and Olivia. They felt wrong hugging their smiling friends considering they just talked shit about them moments ago.

+++

Olivia and Shayne slept in for an extra hour because of how late they stayed up the night before. It was almost 11:30 when they finally got up and decided to go out for brunch because of how late it was. They also could use it as an excuse to post on their social media’s pictures of one another. Both Shayne and Olivia agreed that something was off with Courtney last night and of course they noticed Damien and Courtney whispering to each other in the corner at Ian’s place while not so discreetly looking at the two of them sitting at the bar. So this meant there was a possibility that their plan could be working, Boze certainly thought it was.  
Finally at around noon they went out for brunch and went to the small diner a couple blocks down to get brunch. Even though it was technically lunch both Shayne and Olivia ordered waffles and as they ate Olivia took a nice selfie of the two of them and posted it on her instagram with the caption ‘pretty food, prettier boy’. It was vague but got the point across. Likes and comments from her friends poured in soon after.  
When they got back to their apartment Shayne decided to work on his dance skills and his pole moves and as he practiced on the pole installed in their living room Olivia worked on her hoop. ‘Ever the Same’ by Rob Thomas played over the speaker and while it was the opposite of a club song the two still were able to practice their moves to the slow music. As the melodic voice of Rob Thomas played Shayne moved himself into the fireman position as he spun around the pole and eventually transitioned into what he called the ‘boomerang’. He danced around the pole slowly to the beat of the song and made his movements sensual and pretty.  
Olivia watched him dance as she hung on her hoop in the ‘jigsaw’ position and eventually transitioned into the move called the ‘meathook’ where she held the bottom of the hoop with one hand and curled her body into a hoop like shape. After a couple more songs by Rob and his band Matchbox 20 played they finished their small workout and decided to take a small nap before heading over to Sarah’s.

+++

Shayne ground his hips into the client, a ‘high roller’ from out of town who came to the club in secret from the paparazzi. Shayne had done stuff for this client before, he knew that the client kept his homosexuality a secret and Shayne was his guilty pleasure. The blond picked this information up just by looking at the man and occasionally the client would slip up and let some of his personal life out. Shayne thought of it was a reward for being quiet, hearing other people’s secrets.  
He pressed a small and chaste kiss against the man’s jaw. He was a young man in an expensive looking suit with fancy leather shoes and perfect dark brown hair. The client had piercing blue eyes similar to Shayne’s and beautiful bone structure. Shayne even caught a small hint of an accent in his voice, perhaps Romanian?  
Shayne finished his dance and he ended up just sitting with the client with his arm slung around the man. This was his favorite part, this client liked the performance but also just liked to have insightful conversation with Shayne about everything and anything as they sat on the velvet couches tangled up together. Shayne liked to listen and would occasionally laugh at one of the man’s funny stories or provide commentary but for the most part he just liked to listen. But soon the private dance was over, Shayne was left with a generous tip like always and the client left soon after. He only came to the club for Shayne and just Shayne, no drinks, no girls or boys, just Shayne. Both knew that they could never be together nor did they want that, they liked the relationship they had.  
Shayne left the private room he was in and watched as Wes finished his performance to some song by The Chainsmokers and saw Keith get on stage with Noah for the duo performance. Shayne sat at the bar next to Olivia and they sat in silence as they sipped on Shirley Temples David had made for the two of them. He watched Damien give a girl a very handsy lap dance and he felt his heart clench and his stomach wrench in disgust.  
Olivia felt the same as she saw Courtney laugh at a man’s joke and kiss his cheek like it was no big deal. God she was so confident and such a flirt, two things Olivia was not. She just wanted to curl up in a blanket at home and take off the revealing clothes she was in. The crowd in the club was thick which meant awesome business and tons of money and tips but Olivia was having a bad club night. She ad talked to so many guys already and the night wasn’t even halfway done, shitty nights for her didn’t come often but when they did they sucked. She needed to recharge.  
“Thank god I didn’t agree to brunch tomorrow with the girls.” She muttered to herself. She leaned her head on Shayne’s shoulder and watched her friends dance and listened to the booming base that shuttered throughout the club.


	8. Kisses

It was Wednesday night and Olivia and Shayne were staying in and recharging, mentally preparing themselves for their weekend at the club. Both of them were in the living room sitting on a plastic tarp they had laid out. Olivia was trimming Shayne’s hair like she always did every four weeks because haircuts were just too damn expensive in New York and besides, she was pretty good at it. As she trimmed up the back and gave the sides of his head a slight fade he posted a snapchat of her doing it with the caption ‘cutie cuts the hair’ so Damien and Courtney would see it. Both of them noted their strange behavior at Ian’s place the other night and how they would always stare at the two of them while in the club.   
“Okay, either Courtney likes you and Damien likes me and they’re mad about us dating or Courtney likes me and Damien likes you and that’s why they’re mad.” Shayne said as he sat patiently on the floor waiting his turn to use the scissors on Olivia’s hair.  
“That’s possible or it could be something else entirely but then again I don’t know what.” Olivia moed on the the top part of his hair where it was longer and messy on top. She trimmed up the layers and styled it nicely with her fingers and handed the small mirror over to Shayne. He nodded his head giving it his approval and she switched places with him so she was on the floor and he was sitting on the chair in front of her.   
“Or they might just not like us which would be unfortunate.” Shayne said has he pinned up a section of her raven hair so he could trim the split ends off of it. “But like you said, I don’t know what the reason as to why they would hate us would be. I don’t think we’ve done anything wrong but who knows what’s going on in their heads.” Olivia murmured a ‘yes’ in agreement and continued to sit still while Shayne trimmed her hair.   
Shayne finished quickly because he knew Olivia liked to keep her hair long and all she needed was a trim. They cleaned up the living room and dumped all the hair from the tarp into the trash then decided to call it a night considering it was already 10:40 and they would be up late all weekend. They brushed their teeth and said their goodnights and headed off to their separate rooms to sleep.  
Before going to bed Olivia checked her social media apps and on instagram Courtney posted a new photo. She was currently at an art gallery show supporting one of her friends and her date was of course Damien. He had his arm firmly wrapped around her waist in the photo and she was laughing as he kissed her cheek. It was cute and sweet and nice, something Olivia felt like she could never get with Courtney.

+++

Olivia and Shayne rode the subway together silently as they stood next to one another and shared a metal pole. Both were in sweatpants and baggy jackets that they would use to cover up with later and both clutched sports bags with makeup and other items in them. Once they reached the tsop to Sarah’s house they rushed out of the subway and walked towards her apartment. Shayne suggested they hold hands on the way there just in case they ran into one of their friends which sometimes happened.  
When they got there almost everyone else was there eating Italian food that Sarah had ordered. Olivia got herself some spaghetti and bread and sat on the couch with her roommate in one of the back corners near Joven, Ian, and Anthony who were finalizing the night’s schedule. She and Shayne people watched and saw Boze talking to Wes and Mari about a new video game she bought as Wes and Mari listened intently. Tanner was leaned up against a counter as he spoke, or rather shamelessly flirted with Sarah and she flirted back just as coyly. Damien and Courtney were of course together and they were shooting glances in Shayne and Olivia’s direction as they whispered to one another. Olivia just rolled her eyes and Shayne ignored them, both of them already dreading the day when the other couple would approach them.   
Ian, Anthony, and Joven announced everyone to come over so they could go over schedule for the night. “Alright to kick it off we have Courtney and Damien doing a performance on the stage together to Chandelier by Sia followed up by Flitz who will be taking his spot on the pole for a bit. Then after him will come a solo performance by Mari on the stage, no hoop, then Wes on the stage. Keith will take his spot on the pole after that then Olivia will be doing a performance to Needed Me by Rihanna for a solo performance, no hoop. By then private dances will finish up and there’s just free time for the rest of the night. We tried to keep it as chill as possible considering that it’s just a thursday.”  
“However private dancers will have quite a bit to do tonight.” Anthony said, taking over the laptop and looking at the schedule he made up. “Damien you’ve got two private dances, one at 9:30 and the other at 11. Boze has three dances, the first at 9:20, the next at 10:45, and the last starting at 11:30. Noah has two dances, one at 9:20 and the last at 10 and Shayne has a total of four dances for the night. You start right when the club opens at 9, the next is coming at 9:50, then you’ve got one at 10:45, and the last is at 11:30.” Anthony closed his laptop and everyone got back to their food so the could finish eating before getting ready.  
Sarah announced it was black and white night which made Olivia excited because that meant she could finally use the new red lipstick she had bought a couple weeks back. The black and white outfits were elegant and pretty, one of Olivia’s favorites and she changed quickly into her black lace body suit that had two panels that went over her chest and left a gap down the middle. It almost looked like a fun bathingsuit but was also sexy and alluring at the same time. She also had thigh highs that went with it and around the edges of the outfit was pretty white lace trim that gave it a sense of innocence to it.   
Most of the girl’s outfits were similar but there were some differences. Courtney’s body suit was velvet and had thinner straps and a thonged bottom while Mari’s looked for athletic and Boze’s looked more edgy. The boys had white shirt collars around their necks along with black bow ties with them and had on shorts that were either lace or mesh in the back. Sarah gave the girls sharp eyeliner and red lipstick and the boy’s a small line of liner and did their brows. In the end they all looked polished. 

+++

Olivia hated performing without her hoop but she did like the song she was dancing to. As the song played the distorted intro Joven shouted, “Next up on stage, the beautiful, alluring, and one of a kind, Raven!” And Olivia entered the stage. The music flowed through her skin as she danced and tips were being thrown on the stage left and right. She didn’t do solo performances without her hoop much but when she did people always liked it, so that was reassuring.  
She tossed her hair back and slowing grinded on the ground and in the corner of her eye saw Courtney’s green eyes glaring at her. She took it as a sign to go even harder on her dance which made the crowd cheer and the music get turned up louder. The walls and floors were shaking but Olivia didn’t care, it was all for her. After she finished her dance she went to the back for a bit where Shayne was already laying on the back couch. She sat on the end with him and placed his legs on her lap and stared up at the ceiling because she was exhausted from her dance. She lightly rubbed Shayne’s calves to get some of the coreness out of them and as she did so she was snapped out of her mind’s peace and quiet when Courtney and Damien walked into the room.   
“You were killing it out there Liv.” The blonde said as she grabbed a water out of the fridge. She was wearing a smile that Olivia could tell was fake because Courtney’s eyes screamed something else.   
“Thanks, you looked pretty cool too.” Olivia said awkwardly because she really didn’t know what to say. Shayne’s eyes fluttered open and saw the situation they were in and nudged Olivia which silently said he wanted to get out of there.  
“Hey, so how long have you guys been dating?” Damien asked skeptically. Olivia let Shayne answer just in case she fucked something up.  
“Oh for about four, maybe five weeks I guess.” He said putting on his award winning smile. “You know, we’ve become such good friends because we live together and things just kinda happened. I mean we’ve only been officially dating for about five weeks but I think it’s been longer than that.”  
“If it’s longer than that how come we’ve never seen you kiss?” Damien asked with a smirk on his face. Shayne’s face didn’t falter but Olivia was internally screaming. “Saving it for a special moment?” Damien teased.  
“No, we just figured no one would want to see any huge PDA you know?” Olivia defended calmly. Shayne nodded along with her statement.   
“But I guess if you really want to see us kiss you can!” Shayne said quickly and before Olivia even realized it they were making out. Olivia wanted to puke and Shayne felt like he was going to pass out because both felt so sick, and so so wrong about the kiss. They kissed, or really made out, for a couple for seconds until Shayne pulled away and faced a shocked Courtney and Damien.  
“We’re gonna head out to the bar.” Olivia said as she grabbed Shayne’s hand. Both really needed a drink.


	9. Eating Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much everyone who has taken the time to read, give kudos, or comment on this story. I truly means so much to me that you guys like my writing. Never be afraid to comment your thoughts, I always reply and it means so much to me to hear what you guys think about my writing. It helps me improve and also I just really like hearing from you guys! Thank you so much, I love you guys so much!

Courtney knew she shouldn’t be feeling this way yet she was. She was cuddled in Damien’s arms Friday night after the club on Anthony’s couch as they hung out with the rest of the group. She felt like she was going to puke, her head was spinning, and she was completely disassociated with the group. The blond felt awful, for the past two weeks she had been shitting on two of her best friends with her boyfriend and she didn’t know why. And because she didn’t know why she got angry at herself and instead of focusing her anger on herself she directed it at Olivia so she wouldn’t acknowledge she self loathing.   
‘I should feel happy for them.’ she thought as she looked at the happy couple across the room laughing at something Joven had said. Courtney felt gross and sticky and unhappy, she started to sweat in Damien’s grasp. She just wanted to go home and forget about everything that was happening. But she knew it would catch up with her no matter what she drank or how much sex she would have. One thing she did know was that she felt jealous, but she didn’t know who she was jealous of. Was she jealous of Olivia for dating Shayne or was she jealous of Shayne dating Olivia?  
Nope.  
She could not start questioning her sexuality at the moment, that was just another thing to add to her pile of stress and she was not having it. And she couldn’t start to get cold feet with her relationship with Damien, he had just asked her to be his girlfriend and she couldn’t just break his heart like that. He was the sweetest guy she knew, and he was attractive, smart, funny, and charismatic. So instead she just used those attributes to enforce her belief that she liked Damien and no one else.   
Courtney sighed and nudged Damien’s side which indicated that she wanted to leave. She knew that when they got home they would probably have sex and she wouldn’t complain, that was another thing Damien was really good at and the act would probably take things off her mind for a bit but she dreaded the moment they would come crawling back in.   
‘Am I addicted to sex?’ Courtney asked herself in her head. That was another thing that added to her pile of confusion. ‘I mean, it would make sense right? I’m always using it as an escape from reality, always trying to have it, or is Damien just really good at having sex?’ She thought to herself. They got in their cab and headed back to her apartment. Courtney leaned up against the window and tried to black out the thoughts in her head.

+++

Damien sat on the edge of the bed away from Courtney’s sleeping form. She was curled up with the blankets hardly around her and her hair still looked pretty as it was splayed out on the pillow. The moonlight illuminated part of her face and Damien watched for a couple more moments before standing up and looking out the large glass door that lead out to her balcony.  
He stood in front of it, still naked from their previous endeavors, and looked out upon the city. He felt heavy, tired, and stressed. His feelings here eating away at him and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep them to himself.   
Damien had a crush on Shayne the second he laid on the boy, but who could blame him? Shayne was beautiful, stunning, Michelangelo’s dream subject and on top of that he was clever and made Damien laugh so hard his stomach would hurt. But he never came to terms with his crush, how could he? Sure he had amazingly supportive friends but could he support himself? And how would Shayne react, or would Shayne even care?  
His feelings ate away at him for years until Courtney Miller came along and stole his attention. She was perfect, pretty, and smart. Everything he could ever want from someone but now that he had her, Damien couldn’t stand to be with her. And she didn’t even do anything, she was just her perfect self but the only flaw she had was that she was a girl. So now Damien just felt like he was using her to try and supress his feelings towards Shayne and he knew that Courtney deserved better than that, better than him.  
But then Shayne got with Olivia, and of course they would get together. Both were beautiful, amazing, radiant people and Shayne deserved her and she deserved Shayne. This left Damien asking himself if even deserved anyone at all, or was he just that horrible?  
“Fuck me.” He muttered to himself as he continued to look out at the New York skyline.

+++

Olivia felt like she was going to collapse. Keeping up this whole ‘dating’ thing with Shayne was already taking its tole. Sure posting instagram pictures and snapchat stories was easy but when they did that they were alone. When they were with others that was different. With friends they had to act like the perfect couple, they cuddled, held hands, and now were kissing.   
After the kiss, or rather make out session, she shared with Shayne she thought she was going to puke. Having to be so intimate with someone she wasn’t attracted to was awful and she knew Shayne felt the same way. But he was a natural actor but she felt like her facade was fading. Both her and Shayne were back in their apartment Friday night or rather Saturday morning and were up late talking about everything that was going on.   
“I don’t know, at this point I just feel like they hate us. Courtney hasn’t spoken to me since last night after we kissed and I think she hates me now.” Olivia said as she sipped on the tea Shayne made. He nodded in agreement.  
“Damien hasn’t said much to me either. I can’t tell if he hates me or is scared of me though.” Olivia sighed and Shayne just drank his tea and thought about their whole situation. “I heard he asked Courtney to be his girlfriend, so I guess they’re official now.”  
“Yeah I heard, I guess they didn’t like us after all. Now I think they especially don’t.”  
“Did we just drive two of our friends out of our lives?”  
“I think so.” They sat in silence at Olivia’s reply and thought about what they did. “We’re stupid.” She said after a while.  
“Or not.” Shayne said in rebuttal.  
“Shayne don’t be an idiot, they clearly don’t like us.”  
“You know, I was thinking and at first I thought if they liked us they might’ve been doing the same thing that we’re doing now. But maybe they’re dating each other because they wanted to suppress their feeling towards us.”  
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked.  
“I mean, that maybe they’re trying to convince themselves that they’re straight. I propose that we keep our act up for just a little longer until they break. Maybe they really do like us after all. Until then we just try and mend the bonds with them. You start talking to Courtney more and I’ll start hanging out with Damien again.” Shayne said with slightly more confidence as he spoke each word.   
“I mean, it sounds like kind of a reach.” Olivia said skeptically.  
“But I might not be wrong!” Shayne pointed out. He stared deep into her eyes for a few moments more until she finally broke and agreed to his proposal. “See! This could work, I really think it could!” Shayne looked up at the clock and saw that it was 4:45 in the morning and decided to call the quits for the night. They two gulped down the rest of their tea, brushed their teeth, and headed off to bed where they would sleep for a couple hours before restarting their whole routine.   
“This better fucking work.” Olivia muttered to herself before her eyes fluttered shut.


	10. Jobs

Shayne ran around the kitchen to grab the multiple plates that needed to go out for one of the tables he was serving. After running around for a bit everything was ready to go out and he served the high class people with a smile and graciously took their generous tip at the end of the night. He was exhausted, no shock there, but at least he felt accomplished. He had a little more pocket money from the tips he earned and a paycheck from the restaurant should be in the mail soon. Shayne planned on spending his money on a new pair of shoes for his second from at the restaurant. He wore down the soles on the ones he already had and all the comfortable padding was gone, he felt like he was walking on daggers.   
Tanner didn’t look much better. He seemed just as tired as Shayne was and needed a shave. Tanner didn’t have such a good night like Shayne did, one of the groups he was serving yelled at him and gave him fifty cents as a tip. People could be so pretentious sometimes, but he knew that he would be rewarded at the club later that week to make up for his lack of money that night. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and replied to a couple texts on his phone. Tanner and Shayne walked out of the restaurant at the end of the night with sore feet and sweat stained button downs.

+++

Sarah felt like screaming. She had been working for hours and she just couldn’t get one stupid piece of fabric to lay down properly causing the whole costume she had been working on to fall apart. Around eight o’clock in the evening she finally gave up and shut down she sewing machine and threw her sewing supplies in its box. Looking at the ruined fabric that was laid out in front of her she chuckled to herself and took a picture of it and sent it to Tanner.  
‘Just let me die!!!’ Sarah said in her snapchat with about a dozen upside down happy faced emojis.  
‘Sending prayers!’ Tanner replied shortly after. Sarah laughed at his comment and switched on her TV to watch something on Netflix. She curled up under a blanket and accepted her defeat against the costume she was working on and her two kittens curled up beside her which made her feel a little better. She sighed again and thought about more possible costumes she could make in the future as she watched the Great British Baking Show.

+++

Mari internally groaned as she organized the several graphic t-shirts that were ;aid out in front of her. The display was completely destroyed by several teenage girls because of the sale that was going on. She looked around in the crowded store and already felt tired even though her shift had already begun at eight o’clock, however it ended when the store closed at that was at 2 in the morning. Why she picked up this shift for one of her co workers, she didn’t know but at least night shifts on Mondays usually weren’t too crazy.  
She tied her purple hair up into a ponytail and got to work on organizing the shirts. She figured that if she just stayed busy time would probably fly quickly. After finishing up that small task she would probably move on to one of the lower levels of the store, most likely the men's section, and organize stuff there. Usually not many people were in the boys section which she was thankful for because that meant that she didn’t have to talk to anyone and she could have some quality alone time.  
As she walked down the stairs she checked her phone and saw she had a couple texts from Wes and some other of her friends. Her heart fluttered when she saw the text from Wes and took less than a second to respond even though she knew he would respond hours later. But at least she would have something to look forward to, and he was probably playing a videogame with either David or Sohinki anyways.   
After showing a couple of girls where the pj section was, Mari was finally on the men's floor rearranging some of the pants and listened to the quiet hum of the AC and the people walking around upstairs.   
“Hey, do you know where the bomber jackets are?” A voice said from behind her.

+++

Wes stood behind Mari as he asked about a random item of clothing and watched her wip her ponytail around to face him. Her face melted into a smile when she saw him and he gave her a small hug in retaliation.   
“I thought you’d be lonely at work, also I have snacks in my pockets in case you get hungry.” He said sounding excited.  
“Wes, you don’t have to do that.” Mari protested, “You’ll get bored and tired after like 30 minutes. And you worked all day today! Go do something fun! You don’t have to hang out with me here.”  
“But I want to.” He explained as he sat down on one of the step stools. “So how was your day?” Mari rolled her eyes and gave a small smile as she continued to rearrange the pants on the display table.  
“It was just fine thank you. I played some Overwatch and had a smoothie for breakfast which made me feel healthy as fuck. Then I went out for a run and played some Zelda before work. Now I’m here, stuck listening to boppy teen music until 2 in the morning.”  
“But you’re stuck with me!” Wes exclaimed as he pulled out a small packet of skittles from his back pocket.  
“Yeah, I’m stuck with you.”

+++

David wiped down the counter in the small Irish pub he worked at. Well, it was more like a hole in the wall that all the Irish old men came to so they could get away from their families and watch soccer on the small TV installed behind the bar, but pub was in the name so a pub it was. David looked around and saw on the clock it was nearing eleven which meant he had only one hour of work left. It had been a quiet light of work which he was thankful for and only a couple of regulars came along with some guy who just needed to use their bathroom.   
He liked this though. The quiet life of the pub even if it meant he had to deal with drunks and angry men who yelled at the TV but he also enjoyed the bartending life at the club. The fun lights, crazy people, and of course when Olivia would come and hang out with them. She was always fun and she seemed happy now that she was with Shayne.  
And working alongside Sohinki was a trip. Sohinki had been one of his closest friends for a long time but obviously his bartending methods were different from David’s. Sohinki could always mix drinks in a fancy way, do cool tricks with fire, and make exotic drinks.  
But David liked the way he did things. He perfected the Old Fashioned, liked making casual conversation, and enjoyed the atmosphere he was in at the club. No bartending style was superior because they were just too different to be compared. David took in the scene he was in at that moment as he polished a cracked whiskey glass and watched the soccer match playing on the TV. He smiled, he felt calm.


	11. Shame

Another tiring night of working at Circus had been completed and the group was at Wes and Fitz's apartment hanging out. It was only a Thursday which meant the club let out earlier and everyone was still high off energy despite it being 1:30 in the morning. Joven went home to his fiancee Kate right after the club let out, said something about watching Game of Thrones with her and Ian made late night plans with Pamela, but for the most part everyone was in the small apartment hanging out with one another.  
Olivia accepted Shayne’s advice and she was reconnecting with Courtney, and she had to admit that it felt right. She just acted like she didn’t see Courtney glaring at her from across the club and that she was perfectly fine with Courtney dating Damien even though it broke her heart. Courtney however was taken aback by Olivia approaching her out of the blue. While she did like it, she figured Olivia might hate her because the blond kept sending her dirty looks for no good reason. But Olivia never seemed to of noticed, or if she did she must of taken it like it was nothing. But it didn’t matter anymore, they were huddled up next to each other and watched some of the boys play Mario Kart 8 on Wes’s Nintendo Switch and laughed as the boys raged when they lost and screamed when they won.   
Shayne had also kept his end of the bargain and started talking to Damien again. It wasn’t hard, making conversation was easy if you had a good story to tell, but Damien acted almost frightened and on edge when Shayne would talk to him. But then again, most people were like that with Shayne. Mostly because he was such a wild card and you never knew what you were going to get with him, it could be a crazy story, strange conversation topic, or an existential realization that would throw you completely off guard.  
In reality, Damien was just worried because his feelings for the other boy kept growing stronger and stronger so he felt like he needed to distance himself incase he slipped up. It killed him to be around Shayne, he felt like he was going to explode, and being around Courtney wasn’t any better because he felt like he was using her as some type of emotional crutch. Instead he just smiled through the pain and made jokes while doing funny voices like always and absolutely melted inside every time Shayne would smile. They played Mario Kart together and talked to each other with ease, when they were with one another things always felt so natural.  
When Shayne and Olivia reached their apartment that night both agreed it was a good night. No drama, no turmoil, no problems. They stayed up late talking to one another in Olivia’s room talking about what they liked about their crushes the most, as if they were two elementary girls having a sleepover. At the end of it all Shayne was too tired to walk back to his room and just slept in the bed with Olivia. Olivia fell asleep thinking about how weirdly close she had gotten to Shayne recently, but she didn’t mind. He was genuinely a good a friend, and what more would she ask for?  
Things on Courtney and Damien’s end did wind up so peaceful. Once they got back to Damien’s apartment for the night both immediately craved one another to satisfy their emotional hurricanes brewing inside them. Both knew it was wrong to do this to the other person but both acted like everything was fine, fooling the other person. The two fornicated roughly, hungrily, to the point their cares melted away for the time being. But by the time sleep rolled around their minds were drowning in quicksand again.

+++

“So, are you gonna ask him out or what?” Boze asked casually in reference to Sarah’s crush on Tanner. Sarah just jumped at the question and gave her friend a puzzled look. “What? You specifically asked me to come over early so you could get advice on this and I just gave you some pretty good advice!” Boze exclaimed as she helped Sarah tidey up her apartment before everyone else started arriving.  
“You didn’t give me any advice! You just said I should ask him out, that doesn’t help!” Sarah said as she aggressively wiped down one of her kitchen counters.  
“Fine.” Boze said flatly, “I advise that you ask Tanner Risner out, because he is cute and likes you back.”  
“You don’t know that!”  
“Uh, yeah I do! Everyone knows! Tanner is always up in your business flirting with you and following you around like a lost puppy.”  
“He flirts with every girl.”  
“Not with me! Or Olivia, Mari, and Courtney! Just with you, and girls at the club don’t count because all of us meaninglessly flirt with people at the club because that’s our job.” Sarah sighed in defeat and dialed the number for the pizza shoppe down the street and told Boze to tell Noah to pick it up on his way over and that she’d reimburse him. “So are you going to ask him out or not?” Boze asked as she grabbed the paper plates out of the pantry.  
“I’ll see how things turn out.” Sarah said half heartedly. Boze just rolled her eyes.

+++

Shayne had just finished up his final private dance for the night and the final one just so happened to be the High Roller with the steel blue eyes that came often. Like always, he had a generous tip, so he headed off towards the bar where he would possibly catch Olivia or another one of his friends. When he got there Joven announced Olivia and Mari up on the stage where they’d be doing their routine to Starboy, so he just sat amongst the many other people at the club and watched her perform. He was on the end seat in the corner, undisturbed and alone, a nice moment to have when he just spent his last few hours grinding up on strangers.  
“Long night?” David asked from behind the bar, his orange hair glowed in the mood lighting of the club but his face was shadowed as he got Shayne a ginger ale from the tab.  
“Something like that, at least I’m getting paid.” Shayne said as he held up the tip he had just received. David nodded, took the money, and hid it under the bar. Most of the performers would give David or Sohinki their money for the night for safe keeping until the club closed, it was safer than leaving it tucked in your pants.  
“How’s Liv?” David asked as he poured a whiskey for a customer.  
“Good, she’s lovely as always.”  
“Shame your relationship is a sham. Y’all were cute but the people you long after are cuter with you anyways.” Shayne nodded then stopped and frowned.  
“How the-”  
“Dude, I see everything that happens in this club and I hear all the whispers.” David said cutting him off. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your little secret.” He said as he chuckled softly to himself. Olivia’s performance ended and she joined Shayne at the bar. Shayne mentally thanked Ian and Anthony for not giving he a stage performance, he was exhausted and planned on going straight home when the club let out.  
“Shirley Temple?” David asked and Olivia nodded. “You know, you’re like the only person above the age of like, fifteen, that drinks these.” Olivia rolled her eyes and accepted the drink. She took a few sips and Shayne drank a little out of the small straw in the glass. The two of them watched as Courtney and Damien took the stage for a couple routine.  
“A true shame.” David muttered to himself a he drank from his water bottle.


	12. Breakups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you so much for over 600 hits, it means so much to me that you guys take the time to read my fic. I love all of you guys and I'm so happy with all the positive feedback this work is getting!

It was the last club night of the week and it was packed. Shayne was freestyling on the pole and felt sticky in his shimmery gold costume. Everyone’s body heat was radiating off of one another making the club hot and sweaty, making people more horny, and more willing to give tips. It was an odd thing considering how cold it was outside for comparison. Shayne swung around the pole in the step through position and his costume caught the light. His outfit for the night was one of the older ones Sarah had made a while back but everyone decided to wear them just for the fun of it. The material was completely glittery gold and he had on a speedo with beaded strands of fabric hanging down on his legs that swayed when he moved. As he switched into the Chinese Flag pose the beads hit the pole with a loud clang and the girls that were watching him cheered. When it was time for him to get off the pole because the club was closing for the night he picked up his one dollar bills with a couple fives mixed in and went to the back of the club to watch the final performance.  
The finale was Olivia, Mari, Boze, and Courtney all dancing to Side to Side by Ariana Grande. It was a well thought out routine that had them all in a line, perfectly in sync with one another and the music. He hummed and tapped his foot along with the song and occasionally shot winks at a few customers that made them blush or giggle. He internally rolled his eyes, if only they knew how big of a dork he was in real life. Soon the performance came to a close and Joven announced that the club was closing. People filed out and the group stayed behind to help clean up the mess everyone made.  
Ian turned all the lights on and Shayne moved over to the bar area to help David and Sohinki clean up the mess made for them. Sohinki loaded an assortment of glasses into the small dishwasher below the counter and David hand washed the rest as Shayne wiped down the counters and barstools. Keith and Noah vacuumed the floors, Ian, Joven, and Anthony took care of the stage and Flitz and Boze cleaned the stripper poles and the hoops. Olivia and Mari took over David and Sohinki’s places so the could count the money in the cash drawer and Shayne saw Damien wiping down tables and Courtney cleaning the private rooms. Tanner took the liberty to clean the bathrooms with Wes which made everyone happy because that was the worst job of all.  
Sarah invited everyone back over to her place because it was such a successful night and because her apartment was the closest to the club. Everyone shivered in the night air as they walked back to her place, clutching their bags in their hands and tightly wrapping their jackets around their bodies. Once they all reached the apartment everyone got dressed back into their comfy clothes and Noah and Keith went on a food run. As they left they said something about a cookie place that was open until three in the morning.  
Olivia and Shayne sat next to each other on the floor close enough to one another to not raise suspicious but far enough apart so they didn’t feel super uncomfortable. Both agreed to keep PDA to as much of a minimum as they could, so they kept it at hand holding and chaste kisses on the forehead for the most part. Neither of them wanted to mention the time they made out with one another in front of Courtney and Damien in the back room of the club, both hated it.  
Damien watched the two of them sitting on the ground in front of the couch as Stranger Things played on the TV. Courtney was wrapped up in his arms but he held onto her stiffly. Neither of them acknowledged that there was a wedge slowly driving itself in between the two of them, neither wanted to talk about how strange they acted towards each other, and neither wanted to talk about how they only felt good around the other person when they were having sex with them. Both felt like dirty, sex addicts who knew they were failing to communicate with their significant other.  
Courtney started to realize why she was feeling so angry all the time and it wasn’t because of something Damien did, it was something Olivia did. Because of course Olivia just had to go and date Shayne instead of her. Soon the anger turned to want and want turned into need. Courtney felt that if she was ever going to be sane again, she needed Olivia with her in a not so platonic way. But soon Courtney was drawn from her thoughts as her phone buzzed and she looked down to see a text from Damien even though he was right next to her.  
‘Go into the bathroom and wait there, I’ll be there shortly after.’ Is what it said. So Courtney read it casually, got up, and went to the bathroom and wandered what this meant. Was he trying to sneak in a quicky? Or was this something else? After about seven minutes Damien opened the door and came in quietly after shutting it as quiet as possible.  
“We’ve got to talk.” He whispered. So it was something else. Courtney swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.  
“I know. We’ve been acting weird, we’ve been acting bad.” She said quietly as she looked up into his eyes.  
“Nothing like ourselves.” He confirmed, she nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
“I don’t like boys.” She said trying to sound confident.  
“And I don’t like girls.” He said back. Both paused and their faces broke out into small smiles and they started giggling. “Did we just like, come out for the first time to each other?” He asked as he muffled his laughter with his hand. Courtney nodded frantically and her heart swelled, something about saying she didn’t like boys made her feel so good.  
“So we’re done right?” She asked after they settled down.  
“Oh yeah, I mean, none of this is your fault. I think I’ve known before we even dated.”  
“Don’t even worry about it dude. I’d say we just wait until next week to tell the others, but not in a big announcement type of way.”  
“Got it, so I’m guessing you like Olivia?” Courtney nodded.  
“And you like Shayne?” Damien nodded and they broke out into giggles again. “Oh god, what do we do now? How do we win their hearts?”

+++

Olivia sat on the couch next to Shayne as they sat on their couch indulging in each other’s company silently. Shayne was exhausted, over the course of the weekend he had to do over ten private dances and last night he almost passed out from dehydration because he sweat all the liquids out of his body. They were watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Hulu and the only noises they would make would be if one of they switched positions or laughed. Shayne was currently almost on top of Olivia as she played with his messy hair. He just wanted to be comforted and held by someone so he could recharge before work the next day.  
As they laid on their couch together under a blanket Olivia started to doze off as the TV played and Shayne’s body heat kept her warm. She liked this, helping him feel better and holding him in her arms and she hoped someday she would be able to do it with Courtney. But she thought that might not be possible, she saw Damien and Courtney walk out of Sarah’s bathroom the night before looking happier than ever.  
Maybe she was never supposed to be with Courtney and she would just end up alone for the rest of her life. Well, at least she would have Shayne. Maybe they would make a pact that before they reached a certain age they would get married to get insurance benefits. Thoughts like that plagued Olivia’s mind as she drifted off to sleep on the couch with her friend on top of her.  
“Shayne?” She whispered as she struggled to stay awake.  
“Yeah?” He whispered back sounding groggy.  
“At least we have each other.” Shayne let out a breathy laugh.  
“Yeah, I guess we do.”


	13. Costumes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys so I am so sorry about posting this chapter so late. School has started for me so unfortunately I won't be able to update as often as I used to but don't worry! I am not going to stop writing! Updates should just be around to 2-3 times a week and maybe a little more if the school work is light. Again, I'm sorry for updating so late and to everyone who has been in school or is just starting like I am I wish you the best of luck! Also I just want to tell everyone in Florida right now to stay safe and I'm sending love your way and I hope everything turns out okay for you guys!

Sarah quickly stitched the two sheer pieces of fabric together that were hanging down on the sewing mannequin. She had finally managed to get over her ‘sewing block’ and was furiously piecing costumes together late Thursday night so they would be ready for Friday night. Ian and Anthony let her stay home Thursday night so she could finish. Currently she was working on Keith’s costume, he had requested that he have longer pants this time and Sarah took on the challenge. She had sewed sheer panels in that wrapped around the legs and the border around them was bedazzled.  
The color theme for the costumes was her favorite one yet, it was all black with subtle hints of holographic fabric or sequins. It gave the costumes a fun and mystical rainbow feel that would reflect nicely off of the lights is the club and create rainbow designs on the walls. Keiths pants were soon finished and she moved on to putting the finishing touches on the rest of the boy’s costumes. With the exception of Keith, Flitz somehow managed to convince all the boys that for this round of costumes they all get speedo’s. Sarah didn’t mind though, that just meant less fabric.  
But still she made each individual speedo ensemble different. Sarah made a sheer and glittery flowy kimono cardigan for Noah that would reach about his mid thigh. For Flitz she took an old snap back she found at the thrift store and restored it by spray painting it black and bedazzling the brim. Wes would get a fun fake leather cropped vest that she cut the back out of and replaced it with sheer material so the back was revealing. For Damien she created a cool set of straps that would criss-cross across his chest and clip in the back, and for Shayne she bought a cheap lace garter belt that would attach to two bedazzled leather straps that would go around his thighs. Finally for Tanner Sarah bought a pair of clearance black leather suspenders that she put rhinestones on.   
In the middle of making sure Damien’s straps clipped together correctly her phone started buzzing. Sarah looked down and widened her eyes at how late it had gotten, it was around 1:30 in the morning which meant the club had probably closed and the group was in the middle of cleaning up. Time flew past, but then again she did change cd’s throughout the night frequently. Sarah saw that Tanner was the one calling her phone and after a quick debate in her head she decided to pick it up.  
“Hello?” Sarah asked as she stood back and admired Damien’s costume, decided it was ready to go, and moved on to Wes’s.  
“Sarah!” Tanner shouted enthusiastically over the phone. “We just finished up at the club for the night and were wondering if you were gonna join us at Anthony’s place! We are gonna have an empanada party!”  
“A what?” Sarah said with furrowed brows as she put a couple extra rhinestones on the border of Wes’s jacket and proceeded to move on to Noah’s kimono.  
“An empanada party! Apparently Miel has a great recipe and she wants us to come over and help her make some, are you gonna come?” He asked sounding hopeful. Sarah paused and thought about the offer for a bit.  
“I dunno Tan-”  
“Sarah please? Pretty please? I’m sure you would have fun and everyone was complaining tonight about how they missed you helping out around the club tonight!” He said cutting her off.  
“I’ve gotta finish up these costumes tonight bud, maybe another time.” She said as she cut a loose thread from the costume and moved on to the next.  
“How many?”  
“Like, just a couple more but I don’t want to waste your time waiting for me.”   
“That’s a lie! You never waste my time Sarah! Besides, we still have a little left to do at the club and we have to pick up a few ingredients from the store anyways, I’m sure once we’re done with that you’ll be done if you only have a couple more. Besides, Anthony lives on your end of town anyways.” Sarah listened to him ramble and realized she had no getting out of this ‘empanada party’ or whatever the hell that meant.  
“Fine, fine I’ll come over after I finish. I’ll see you later Tanner.” Sarah said as she hung up the phone and redirected her attention back onto the costume in front of her. She finished putting the bedazzled leather straps together and fitted them to the garter for Shayne, put a couple extra rhinestones on Tanner’s suspenders, and double checked Flitz’s hat. She finished in about thirty minutes and texted Tanner that she was on her way.

+++

When Sarah entered Anthony and Miel’s apartment her nose was overwhelmed with the smell of ground beef, spices, and fry oil. She breathed it in and hung her coat up on the designated coat chair and walked into the kitchen where she hear the commotion happening. Everyone hooped and hollered when she entered and she saw everyone in a designated area of the kitchen doing a particular job to help out with the making of empanadas. Miel was reading off the recipe and adding spices to the mix and Anthony was running around the kitchen grabbing things she needed, Joven and Mari were mixing up the ground beef with their hands and were having way too much fun with it, Flitz and Noah were setting the table while Shayne and Damien picked out a movie and Olivia and Courtney were on fry duty. Boze and Keith were hanging out with Sohinki and David who were doing bar tricks and Tanner was helping the girls fry.  
“I’m so glad you came!” He said rather loudly as he gave her a side hug. Sarah internally screamed and a faint blush was scattered on her cheeks. “Seems like all that work you had wasn’t so hard after all. Did you make me something special?” He asked as he poured oil into the pan as Olivia placed some of the empanadas in.  
“Tanner you know I can’t reveal the costumes until tomorrow, I can assure you that you’ll like it.” Sarah said as she watched Courtney flip the empanadas in the oil, making them golden and flaky.  
“Okay, but is it special?” Tanner asked, leaning in towards Sarah with a smirk on his face. She just rolled her eyes and held out a plate for Courtney to put the food on.  
“Yes, it is special and defines you from the rest of the boys.” Tanner grinned and bit down into an empanada but then breathed out of his mouth and screamed a little because of how hot it was. His attempt at trying to be smooth failed miserably but luckily it brought a smile to Sarah’s face and she was laughing uncontrollably.  
“Hey how about we watch 2001: A Space Odyssey tonight!” Damien shouted from across the room. A couple of people groaned and Shayne plucked the disc out of his hand.  
“Dude no. That movie has too much symbolism for my taste, I don’t get the big deal about it.” Shayne said as he put the DVD back on the shelf. Damien sighed and the boys continued to search through the discs until Shayne pulled out Inception, one of his personal favorites, and the group decided on that movie.

+++

It was almost 3 o’clock in the morning and everyone was huddled around Anthony’s TV watching the Christopher Nolan film playing on the screen. Not a single person was asleep as the intense movie played and they all munched on the empanadas that they had all made. Sarah completely forgot about how she tried to get out of coming to this small party and was actually thankful that Tanner invited her. He was right, Miel really did have an awesome recipe and the company surrounding her made her heart swell.   
As she ate she sat next to Tanner on the small love seat in the living room. She brushed her fingertips on the napkin she was using and further settled herself into the cozy blanket that was wrapped around her. Tanner had his arm absent-mindedly around her shoulder as they watched the film and sometimes he would lean down and steal a bite from the empanada she was eating. Sarah would jokingly punch him but in reality she didn’t mind. Her stress from costume making faded away as she got swept up in a movie about dreams.


	14. Chance

“Alright everyone, now that we’ve gone over schedule it’s finally the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” Joven shouted in his announcer voice to everyone in Sarah’s apartment. “Sarah will be revealing your brand new costumes!” Olivia’s heart raced, she was always excited about new costumes but while talking to Sarah over text Sarah told her that these were her best ones yet. Apparently they would compliment the club and be a lot of fun, so all week Olivia’s stomach churned with excitement for Friday evening when she would finally get to see them. Sarah’s bedroom door opened and she wheeled out the clothing rack that held everything, everyone gasped at all the sparkles and glossy black fabric that they saw.  
Sarah picked up every costume and called out people’s name one by one. Most of the boys blushed when they saw their speedos but seemed excited at the cool thing they got with it. Wes squealed when he saw his cool vest and Damien was in awe at the carefully crafted straps that would wrap around his body. Of course Keith practically screamed when he saw his amazing leggings that were sparkly and sheer that Sarah had made for him, he gave her a huge hug and told her that it was exactly what he wanted.   
But after all the boys got their clothes it was time for the girls, and boy did Sarah go hard on these costumes. Each costume for the girls were different which made Olivia and Mari excited because they got their own unique costume instead of matching with one another. The costumes were lacey and revealing and each sequin was placed with care and thought.   
Boze had a sheer, black, long-sleeved body suit that had sequins scattered along the sleeves and a black, lacey bralette and panties to go underneath. She also got a pair of thigh-highs that had sequins along the top. Mari got an amazing tight fitting black sleeveless shirt that had a plunging neckline and that was bordered with sparkles. She also had tight fitting booty shorts that had sheer panels on the sides. All the fabric was glossy and sleek, making Mari blend into the shadows. Courtney also got a body suit but instead of it being sheer it was a dark black velvet that made the costume look like a voided space. In the middle there was a cut out that had criss crossed sparkly straps that showed off her cleavage, Olivia blushed as she looked at Courtney in her costume.   
Finally Olivia got her outfit and Sarah whispered to her that it was her personal favorite, Olivia could not disagree. On top was a black lace halter bralette with sewn in sequins scattered throughout and it also had straps that would cross over her stomach and clasp in the back. Then on the bottom were simple black laced panties but also a lace garter belt that clasped to a set of leather straps that would go around her thighs and were also sparkly.  
“Hey! We match!” Olivia said with a smile as she nudged Shayne after she changed into her costume. Shayne was already in his speedo and garter belt and Olivia honestly thought that was the best she had ever seen him. The guy had a perfectly sculpted body and his shoulders were broad but he also had a small waste, so basically his upper body was shaped like a dorito, similar to Captain America. So the belt fit around him perfectly and attached to the straps around his thighs easily.   
“Do I look okay?” He whispered to Olivia with a hint of insecurity in his voice.  
“You look amazing, are you uncomfortable or something?”  
“No, I mean, it’s just this is definitely the least amount of fabric I’ve ever worn for work and this garter is cool I just don’t want to look too weird ya know?”  
“Shayne, you look beautiful okay?” Olivia said reassuringly as she put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled and nodded then started to grab his things and so did Olivia. As she was packing up her bag and getting ready to go Courtney approached her.  
“So is it just me or does Shayne look way too good in a lacy garter belt.” She said jokingly, Olivia almost snorted and hoisted her bag over he shoulder.  
“I know right! He looks better than I do!”  
“Hey don’t say that babe! You look good in anything!” Courtney said with a smile and slapped her hand on Olivia’s back. Olivia blushed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “How is he anyways?” The blond asked.  
“Oh um we’re good. Dating him is cool because it’s really casual and I like that. I guess it’s like I’m dating my best friend, we like to have silent company with each other and we don’t really like PDA so that’s nice. I like how low key it is.” Olivia said as she thought about each word coming out of her mouth carefully. No one had really asked about her and Shayne all that much. “But what about you and Damien?” She asked as she tried to deflect Courtney’s attention off of the subject of her ‘relationship’.  
“Oh Damien? We broke up at the start of this week, nothing personal but things just don’t work out sometimes, you know? We both agreed we would be way better friends.” Courtney said casually. Olivia’s heart started to race, Courtney was single now, and did they really break up because things didn’t work out or was it something else? “So,” Courtney said as she lowered her voice and leaned in a little closer towards Olivia, “what’s he like at home?”  
“Huh?” Olivia asked sounding incredibly confused, Courtney just burst out laughing and lightly hit Olivia’s shoulder.  
“Don’t be so oblivious Liv! Do I have to spell it out for you?” The blond asked, but Olivia was still confused and had a blank look on her face. “Oh my god, sex Olivia! What’s he like in bed?” Courtney whispered, still giggling. Olivia’s eyes widened in shock and she ran her fingers through her hair.   
“Uh, he is um-”  
“Wait, you guys have had sex right?” Courtney asked.  
“Yeah, yeah we did don’t worry.” Olivia said trying to sound convincing.  
“Hey everyone, time to get ready!” Sarah shouted as she adjusted some stuff on Noah’s costume. Courtney winked at Olivia as she got some of her stuff together.  
“We can talk about this later.” The blonde said as she flipped her hair. 

+++

Damien was sitting near the stage of the club while a group of girls were obsessing over him. One of them ran their fingers over his chest and tugged on his hair. He leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips which made her giggle, then he left the group after they tucked a few ones in the band of his speedo. The brunette walked to the back of the club where the bar was, Mari and Boze were dancing on top of it. Damien took a shot of vodka and sat on one of the stools and looked back up on the stage.  
Shayne was doing a routine on the pole. His body flowed gracefully through the movements as he went into the U-bend position. Damien threw back another shot and continued to look around at his friend in the club. All the girls had sleek high ponytails that were straight and all the boys had sleek quiffs. Damien thought they all kind of looked like sexy robots, or sex bots. His costume gave him confidence and the alcohol started to kick in.

+++  
Olivia fell back into her bed and groaned. She and Shayne decided not to hand out with the others after their night at the club considering they still had to work tomorrow and the club was open till 2:30 that night. She was exhausted and even used the last bit of energy to shower before going to bed. Being in a new costume gave her confidence so she worked extra hard on the hoop and even worked the floor a little bit. Tips that night were the highest she had ever received, and everyone did equally as good. Shayne got in the shower after her so he could clean all the sweat off his body. He only had one private dance that night and it was for the Romanian high roller, but he was on the pole for a while and gave several lap dances and even had his own stage routine.   
As she laid in bed, too tired to even get under the covers, Olivia realised that Courtney was single again. Her and Damien were no longer a thing which gave her so much joy. She made a mental note to tell Shayne in the morning.  
She finally felt like she had a chance.


	15. Hard Hit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would just like to apologize for the late update. Please don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story. Over the past week I was hit with a serious case of writers block and I just had no idea what I wanted to do next with the story but this chapter opens up a whole new theme for the story and writing will come so much easier to me after this. Again, thank you so much to everyone who reads and takes time to comment and give me kudos on this fic. I love all of you guys and I hope you stick around for what's coming next!

Olivia woke up to Shayne shaking her body and shouting ‘Get up!’ in her ear. She slapped him away and told him to get out of her room and let her sleep. It was five o’clock in the morning after all and she had only been sleeping for a few hours. “Get the hell out Shayne, I don’t care what happened in your Stephen King book you can tell me when it’s daylight!”  
“Olivia! This is serious!” Shayne shouted at her, she rubbed her eyes and kept slapping him so he would get out of her room. Eventually he just grabbed her hands and pinned them to her sided. “Olivia! The club was robbed!” He finally shouted. Olivia’s eyes went wide and her arms went slack.  
“What?”  
“I’m confused too, I just got a call from Ian and he said get down to the club immediately. Sorry for the rough wake up call.” Olivia nodded and Shayne left her room so she could get dressed. She threw on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt that was on the floor and rushed out the apartment with Shayne wearing a pair of flip flops.  
“Are there even any trains right now?” Olivia asked as they rushed down the stairs, probably waking up everyone in the building. Shayne shook his head no as he made a hard right and ran into the underground garage of their apartment.  
“We’re taking my bike.” He shouted as he ran towards his motorcycle parked on the far end of the garage. Shayne’s motorcycle was only something that he rode in the spring and summer months and had put it away for the year about a month and a half ago. He threw one of his helmets in Olivia’s direction along with a leather jacket and after she barely caught them, she strapped the full face helmet on and mounted the bike after throwing on the large jacket. Shayne put on his dual-sport helmet on and started the engine of the bike, revved its engine, and the two sped out of the garage and into the early morning.  
The jet black sport bike sped down the streets that were relatively empty. Olivia could feel the late autumn air against her skin as it got underneath the jacket and she clung to Shayne’s waist as he maneuvered the bike through traffic. Shayne was going as fast as he could to the club and felt Olivia’s grip around his waist tighten. They sped around corners and raced down the street as the engine of the bike roared. Shayne was scared, he had no clue what the club was going to be like when they got there.  
Finally, the two reached the club after about thirty-five minutes and Shayne parked his bike in the alley by the club. The two busted into the club with their helmets and jackets still on. They were the last ones to arrive because they lived the farthest away and after taking off their helmets they could see the damage done.  
Ian and Anthony both had their hands over their face as they spoke on the phone, probably with their insurance provider. Everyone else was just milling around the place taking in the sight. The bar looked almost destroyed, liquor bottles were broken everywhere and the register under the counter was broken into, along with the safe in the back room. The barstools were slashed and the counter had dents in it. Sohinki and David were already cleaning up the area, almost in tears as they mopped up the sticky residue of the alcohol.   
Joven said that almost all the AV equipment was taken along with the couch and fridge in the back room. Olivia and Mari’s hoops were luckily left along, along with the pole in the center of the stage, but most of the tables on the main floor were scratched all over them. Tanner checked out all the private rooms, and luckily were left untouched but Wes found that many of the lights on the ceiling were also taken. They were hit, hard. Everything that Ian, Anthony, and Joven worked for was destroyed and all they had left were broken bottles and glitter on the floors.   
“Alright,” Ian said as he motioned for everyone to come together, “Someone from the insurance company is coming to check out the club this afternoon. Good news is that we will probably get a good amount of money to rebuild, bad news is that the club will be closed for a couple of weeks while we rebuild.”  
“We realise that this place is you guys’ main source of income considering your other jobs only pay you minimum wage. We will understand you if any of you guys want to leave and work for another club.” Joven said with a tired voice and half lidded eyes. He was exhausted, like everyone else, but Olivia felt her heart clench at his statement.  
“Leave?” Noah asked sounding hurt and confused. “Why the hell would any of us leave?” The group nodded at his question.  
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.” Keith said. Ian and Anthony looked up, their eyes widening out of surprise.  
“But, you guys won't be able to make hardly any money with the club being closed.” Anthony said.  
“Anthony, it’s not about the money. We love it here, and I intend on helping rebuild this place. This is our home.” Flitz said as he gestured to everything in the club. “We all intend on rebuilding this place.” The group nodded and a chorus of ‘yeahs’ were murmured.   
“Yeah, and while we rebuild we can set up a bunch of hype for when we reopen. We can have the biggest night we have ever had. Trust, people will be dying to come back. And besides, we will only be closed for a couple of weeks right? That’s not eternity.” Wes added.  
“And with all our help the job will get done faster, we can even invest in some newer and better equipment. We still have that savings account right?” Sohinki asked. Ian nodded and everyone’s hopes started to rebuild. They all came in for a group hug and started laughing towards the end of it. After that they all went home to get some rest and would regroup later that night after the insurance company gave them money for damages.  
Shayne and Olivia remounted the bike, calmer and happier this time. Olivia adjusted her leather jacket and Shayne slid on his helmet. They rode in the direction of home and on the way they watched the sun rise over the tops of the buildings, painting the picture of a red and yellow sky. Shayne pulled over to a small cafe where the two friends bought coffees and breakfast sandwiches and ate them outside on a park bench across from where the bike was parked. 

+++

After the insurance company looked at the club and gave Ian and Anthony money, they called the rest of the group over to Anthony’s house where they were all going to have dinner and start to make plans for the renovation for the club. Once everyone arrived at around five o’clock they all piled into the kitchen to help make dinner. Someone had suggested they make spaghetti and they all agreed so Miel broke out a recipe book for the sauce and Pamela and Ian walked to the closest grocery store so they could buy more pasta and fresh bread.   
The small kitchen was filled with laughter and smells of different spices as they all helped out. When it was close to being served Boze and Courtney helped set the table while Damien and Mari looked for extra chairs. Joven grabbed his laptop and opened up a new document so he could write down everyone’s suggestions as they ate.  
“So the budget is 21,000 dollars which includes the money the insurance company gave us and about three quarters of the money we had saved up.” Anthony said as he dipped his bread in olive oil. Sohinki whistled at the dollar amount, it certainly gave them enough room to play around with.  
“Let’s do priorities first,” Flitz suggested, “We definitely need a new security system.” Everyone nodded and Joven typed it into the computer.  
“Next we need new sound equipment and some new lights.” Joven said as he typed away on his laptop.   
“Almost all the barstools were destroyed, but I bet we could buy some cheap ones off Craigslist and just refurbish them.” Boze suggested.  
“Dude my sister refurbishes furniture, I bet you I could get her to do it and it would be half the cost.” Courtney said excitedly. Joven made note of that in the laptop. “I bet you that she would also be able to do the tables, they were only scratched so with some sanding and a new coat of stain they would probably look brand new!”  
“The bar counter needs to be replaced, the robbers left it dented and scratched. We can probably just get a granite counter on the cheaper side, the lights in the club are always dim anyways.” David said.   
“We also need a new register for under the counter and a new safe.” Shayne added. Joven typed quickly and gave rough estimates to the cost of everything.  
“So the most expensive things would probably be the light and sound equipment, next the security systems, the new counter, and the tables and chair will be relatively cheap. We also have to buy new alcohol but that comes later. Overall it’s very doable especially with the price range we have. I say that if we really do some online digging we can probably get some good deals on this stuff.” Joven said sounding pretty impressed.  
Everyone smiled and got back to their dinner, even though the club was practically destroyed they all savored their night off.


	16. Repairs and Reassurance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So I just wanted to let you know that soon this fic will be coming to a close, but do not worry! I have another one planned and I am super excited for it! It will of course be a Smosh fic and it will be in the universe of one of my favorite things. So while this fic will be shorter than my other one don't worry, I am not planning on stopping my stories any time soon. Thank you so much and stay tuned for the rest of Circus!

It had been about a week and a half since the club had been robbed and things were coming together surprisingly well. Joven was able to find new sound equipment for relatively cheap and the girls went out to the salvage yard to find some new barstools with Courtney’s sister, Kari who was excited to help repair the club. After they got some new barstools Sarah went to the fabric store and bought burgundy velvet fabric and started on making new seat cushions.   
It was Thursday afternoon, one of the days the entire group could come together to help repair the club, and Joven, Flitz, and Wes had just finished setting up the new speaker system. After testing the new system and a small group dance party, the three of them left to go look at new lighting. Luckily only a couple of lights were taken and the ones that were stolen weren’t the expensive ones. For the most part it was just clamp lights and a couple of filters for the lighting.  
Ian and Anthony were starting to install the new security system and had the directions splayed out on the floor and read them with confused expressions. David and Sohinki were helping them but they looked just as confused and started to look up videos online on how to set it up. Courtney, Boze, and Mari were working on dusting and mopping the place and Damien was setting up the new safe in the back room. Keith was on his way over to a friends house who said they had a couch they were trying to get rid of, Noah went with him to help him carry the couch for the many blocks they would have to walk. Tanner was also out shopping and was trying to find a new mini fridge for the back room along with a new register for the bar.  
Olivia was helping Shayne change the locks. She was handing him screws as he drilled the new door handles and locks into place. After they finished both entrances they planned to go down to a locksmith and get copies of the keys made for everyone. Shayne finished installing the door handle and wiped some of the dust off his face and took of the plastic glasses he was wearing that protected his eyes from the debris. It was nearing five o’clock and someone mentioned something about going out for dinner in a couple hours.   
While the club incident was upsetting everyone was enjoying the free time they had. Everyone was catching up on sleep which made their performance at their second jobs much better and overall the group was slightly happier. Olivia liked that she could get to bed at a reasonable time on weekends now but she still couldn’t wait for the club to reopen and she could get back on her hoop, she had been working on a new routine to the song Do Re Mi by Blackbear. Shayne was equally excited and also had been working on a few new routines, but he was also slightly worried. He wondered him the Romanian high roller would come back to the club despite it being closed for a couple of weeks. Romanian high roller was his most loyal and best paying customer, so he hoped he would come back.  
But also with this time working on the club Shayne and Olivia savored the time they were getting with Courtney and Damien. Somehow repairing the club felt intimate, no stripping or glitter to hide things. Instead they got to see the blond and brunette in their natural state. Damien’s messy hair and five o’clock shadow paired with several baggy flannels and ripped jeans made Shayne’s heart flutter. Olivia also enjoyed seeing Courtney so dressed down, her hair was in a messy bun and her face was fresh and clean of makeup. Courtney looked exquisite in the club but her natural beauty was also stunning.  
Luckily, when Olivia went to the salvage yard with the girls she casually let them know that she and Shayne ‘broke up’ and agreed to just be friends. She knew the news would spread throughout the rest of the group and the work would be done for her. Olivia and Shayne were excited, they felt confident and full of hope. And with the time they were spending at the club they felt like they were growing closer with their crushes.  
On the other side, Courtney and Damien felt exactly the same. The two of them would whisper to one another about how excited they were about how the couple broke up and planned on making a move soon. Damien wanted to go on double dates if given the chance and Courtney wanted to take Olivia to her favorite spots in the city and learn all about the raven haired girl. 

+++

“I just like the way his eyes are like, kinda green but not. A brown green but not hazel but like a slate green? Is that a thing?” Shayne asked as he was laid out on various amounts of pillows and blankets. Olivia and Shayne were having a makeshift ‘slumber party’ in their living room and turned the whole room into a blanket fort. Fairy lights littered the floor along with pillows and left over soft blankets. They left an opening so they could watch TV and earlier they had put on the movie ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ but abandoned it as they started talking about their crushes.  
“Yeah I think it could be a thing, why can’t slate green be a thing?” Olivia asked as she bit off a piece of a twizzler and offered a bite to Shayne. “Courtney’s eyes are bright green, they’re super cool. Sometimes it makes me want to have cool colored eyes.”  
“Hey! Brown eyes are dope. They’re mysterious.” Shayne defended.   
“Yeah but you’re eyes are so fucking blue that sometimes it looks like they’re not even a color. Sometimes they look gray, you gotta admit that that’s cool.” Shayne just shrugged in response. “Like dude, there’s a reason why you’re the most popular worker at the club.”  
“I dunno, I never got the appeal. If I’m the most popular worker then how come Damien doesn’t pounce on me like everyone else?” He asked sounding slightly upset.  
“Honestly I think that the two of us have been caught up in our own personal affairs to the extent that we haven’t noticed what’s been going on around us. Boze said she really thinks that we should go for it, and that the feeling is mutual for both of our crushes.”  
“Are they even crushes at this point?” Shayne asked as he bit into one of the store bought cookies Olivia bought. “I mean, how long have we liked these people and I feel like our feelings go beyond hand holding.”  
“Ooooo, you wanna fuck him don’t you?” Olivia joked as she nudged Shayne’s shoulder with her foot. He tried to suppress a laugh and just rolled his eyes.   
“Oh shut up, you probably want to do the same with Courtney.” Olivia nodded and so did Shayne, “But when I say it’s more than hand holding I mean like, I just want Damien to be okay. You know?” He asked, Olivia listened intently. “I just want to be there for him, be his number one in a bigger way than a friend would be. I want him to come to me first when something happens, be there when he cries and be able to make him laugh all the time.” Shayne said as he laid in the fort and looked up at the blanket ceiling. It was silent for a moment and Olivia laid down on her back next to him. The movie was still playing softly in the background but neither of them were paying attention to it.   
“We should just do it.” Olivia whispered out of the blue.  
“What?” Shayne whispered in response. He turned his head to look at his roommate and she was lookin back at him, intently.  
“What do we have to lose?” She asked.

+++

Shayne was standing outside Damien’s apartment holding his motorcycle helmet in his hands. Olivia somehow managed to convince him to rush over to his house and finally ask him out on a date. Olivia was doing the same thing and took a cab over to Courtney’s place and Shayne figured she had probably already asked her out by now. Shayne had been standing outside the building for over ten minutes, holding his helmet in his hands, and feeling the brisk wind against his face. He debated on going inside and just dropping the whole ordeal and just going home but then he remembered,  
‘What do we have to lose?’ Olivia’s words replayed in his head and finally he took a step towards the building, then he started running, and soon enough he was in the elevator almost jumping with adrenaline while wishing it would go up faster. Once the doors opened he ran through the halls until he was outside Damien’s door, apartment 2610.  
He reached his hand out to knock on the door but something was holding him back. His palms were sweaty, his bike gloves still on and the other hand clutched his helmet to the side of his body. “Goddamnit Shayne just fucking do it you ass.” He whispered to himself. Then he knocked on the door and waited for Damien to answer.

+++

Damien was in the middle of replaying Bioshock when he heard a knock on his door. He looked at the time and noted it was almost eleven o’clock at night on a Thursday. Maybe it was Courtney, sometimes she just stopped by and they would hang out and eat candy while just talking about nothing. But then again Courtney would usually send him a text a few minutes before showing up. He checked his phone and saw that he had no notifications, but even then it could still be her.  
Before opening the door he checked himself in the mirror quickly, his hair was a mess like it always was when he needed a haircut. His glasses were also on and there were faint dark circles under his eyes from the gaming he had been doing. His shirt was also off and he was just wearing a pair of plaid pj pants that were hanging low, but he knew that Courtney probably wouldn’t care.  
But when he swung the door open he didn’t see Courtney at all, instead he was met with a wide eyed Shayne whose cheeks were red from the wind, has his biker jacket zipped all the way up, and messy helmet hair for days. Damien was suddenly subconscious of his appearance, he looked like a tired mess while Shayne looked cool in his biker gear, but then again when didn’t he look cool?  
“Uh, hey?” Damien asked sounding confused. Seeing Shayne at his door was the last thing he was expecting, he wasn’t mad, in fact he was pleasantly surprised, but he was still confused.   
“Hey.” Shayne said confidently. His mind blanked, he hadn't thought this far in. In fact he thought he would pussy out before even getting to Damien’s door.   
“What’s going-”  
“Go out with me.” Shayne interrupted. He honestly didn’t mean for it to come out that aggressive but he felt like he was bursting at the seams.  
“What?” Damien said, taken aback by his statement. This was the very last thing he was expecting and he honestly didn’t know what to do with himself. He felt his face starting to flush and his hands were shaking.  
“Go on a date with me.” Shayne reinstated as he took a step into Damien’s apartment and Damien took a step back. “Look, I don’t know what’s been going on between us but I’m sick of all this high school shit. I wanna date you, hold your hand, be there for you, and come home to you. Shayne spoke as his voice started to waver. He felt every part in his body start to shake and he honestly thought he was going to start to cry.  
“But you just broke up with Olivia-”  
“Olivia and I faked it to get you and Courtney’s attention. It was fake, I want you. I need you.” Shayne pleaded. He reached his hand out and on a leap of faith he gently placed it on Damien’s cheek, Damien subconsciously leaned into the other boys touch. His mouth formed an ‘o’ and he nodded as he understood the situation. “Go on a date with me.” Shayne said again.  
“Okay.” Damien said, he looked up into Shayne’s eyes and both the boys started to smile.  
“Alright.” Shayne replied. He removed his hand from Damien’s face, dropped his helmet on the floor, and placed both his hands on Damien’s hips.

+++

“Shiiiiit dude.” Olivia said into the phone, she was on the phone with Boze and Boze was hanging out with Wes and Flitz. All of them were screaming at Olivia to walk into the apartment building and finally ask Courtney out.   
“Get your shit together before I beat your ass!” Boze shouted over the phone. Olivia started walking into the building and went into the elevator. “Ask the bitch out and your life will be better!” Boze shouted, then she hung up abruptly and Olivia was only accompanied by the soft music playing in the elevator. She sent a quick text to Shayne saying that she was about to do it and stepped out of the elevator when the doors opened. Olivia quietly walked to the end of the hallway and stood outside of Courtney’s apartment and without hesitation she knocked on the door. She stood there for a bit and waited for Courtney to open it and after a couple of minutes she knocked again, louder this time. 

+++

Courtney heard the first knock and when she looked through her peephole she slammed her back into the door. “What the hell is happening? Why is Olivia here?” She muttered to herself. Courtney was not ready for this, she looked like shit! Her hair was pulled back into a bun and her contacts weren’t in leaving her in her glasses. On top of that she was wearing two day old clothing and hadn’t showered despite the fact she was sweaty from working at the club all afternoon. “Fuck!” She whispered urgently to herself.  
But then Olivia knocked again, she really thought the girl would just leave after not getting a response the first time. Courtney sighed and chose to just face the situation that was being handed to her, and opened the door despite the fact that she looked like a mess.  
When the door swung open Olivia’s face lit up and she greeted Courtney with a chipper “Hello!” Olivia’s jacket was hanging loosely from her body and she looked like she was in pj’s. Courtney just gave a cautious smile back, unaware and scared of what was about to happen.  
“What brings you here this time of night?” Courtney asked. She stepped outside and closed her apartment door behind her.  
“I, uh” Olivia stuttered. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her but she pushed through. She had to follow through with her promise to Shayne, she knew he would hold her end of the deal. “What are you doing tomorrow night?” Olivia asked.  
“Um, probably nothing. I mean we will probably be working at the club all day but I’m not really doing anything tomorrow night. But if you wanted to hang out you could’ve just texted.” Courtney said, confused with everything that was going on.  
“But, this is different.” Olivia said quietly, her fingers were trembling and she felt sweat trickle down her neck. “This is me asking you out on a date.”  
“Oh, oh okay.” Courtney said just as quietly. She felt the corners of her mouth start to curl up and she dropped her head to the ground. “Where are you taking me?”  
“I don’t really know.” Olivia said while slightly laughing. “I honestly didn’t think you were going to say yes.” Courtney placed her hand on Olivia’s shoulder.  
“I always would’ve said yes.” Courtney reassured. Olivia grinned and Courtney smiled back and the two crashed together in a tight hug.


	17. Date Night

Olivia sighed in frustration as she looked at the contents in her closet. She felt like she had nothing to wear for her first date with Courtney and she was realising that almost all her clothes her black or gray. She was also realising that she hadn’t been on a real date in about a year. The ‘date’ with Shayne didn’t count, that was all fake, this was very real and she didn’t know what to do with herself. So instead she just gave up for a couple of moments and decided she would walk over to Shayne’s room and see how he was holding up, he was taking Damien on their first date tonight and he was in the same boat as Olivia, his dating experience was lacking.  
“Dude, I have nothing to wear.” Olivia said tiredly as she plopped down on Shayne’s bed and laid herself out on it. Shayne was standing in front of his closet looking at a couple of shirts. “Everything I own is void of any color.”  
“Same, seems like the cool and mysterious facade I put on makes me only own dark colored clothing.” He held two shirts out in front of him, one was a dark green t-shirt and the other was a deep red one. “These are some of the only colored shirts I own, and I don’t want to dress too nicely. This is just a casual date, I think.” He said sounding unsure. He hung the shirts back up in his closet and ran his fingers through his hair.  
It was about six and both their dates started at around 8, so they still had time but both of them were internally panicking. Olivia got up from the bed to look through Shayne’s closet and ended up digging through some shopping bags that were at the bottom of his closet. She pulled out a short sleeved button up shirt from one of the bags, it still had the tag on it and it was slightly wrinkled. The shirt was white with small, navy blue geometric shapes all over it. Olivia pulled the shirt completely out of the bag and held it out in front of Shayne.   
“You’ve never worn this, it’s so cute dude!” She held it up so it was displayed on his body and he looked at her with a slightly concerned face.  
“I, I dunno Liv. I bought this on a whim. I feel like I’d look awful in it.” Shayne said as he pushed it away from him. Olivia slapped him on his arm and ripped off the tag.  
“Nope! You’re wearing it! It’s too cute to not be worn and anything looks good on you so shut up! I’m gonna iron this, look through my closet and try to find something for me.” Olivia said as she walked into the living room and broke out the ironing board and Shayne just rolled his eyes and went into her room to try and find something for her.

+++

It was 7:20 and Shayne and Olivia had finally gotten finished getting ready. Shayne was dressed in his patterned shirt, dark blue jeans, his combat boots and had his tan leather jacket draped over his shoulder when Olivia came out of her bedroom. She applauded Shayne on his outfit as he did a mock catwalk strut up and down their living room floor to show off his outfit. After he did a couple turns it was Olivia’s turn to show off her outfit which was a laced white crop-top, light wash jeans, a studded jean jacket, and black strappy heels. Olivia’s hair was straightened and half up, half down and Shayne had taken the time to styled his usually messy hair into a slightly neat quiff but it was still kind of messy.  
“Messy in a good way, like it looks effortless.” Olivia said when Shayne asked if his hair was alright. The two friends hugged and walked down the stairs together, Shayne turned to go to the garage so he could take his bike out and Olivia left out the front entrance so she could catch a cab to Courtney’s building.

+++

Courtney sat nervously next to Olivia in the cab, she felt her knees shake and the palms of her hands were clammy. Olivia was going on about helping Shayne pick out his outfit for his date and Courtney listened intently but was also internally screaming. She was just so nervous, unbelievably excited, but terribly nervous. This was the girl of her dreams and she was finally going on a date with her so she didn’t want to mess it up somehow. What if she said something stupid? What if Olivia realised she didn’t like Courtney at all after this date? Questions clouded her mind until the cab stopped, Olivia paid the fee, and the two girls stepped out of the car.  
They were on a relatively vacant street compared to how streets usually are in NYC and Olivia was leading the way and opened the door to a small shop and held it open for Courtney. Courtney stepped inside and immediately noticed how warm and inviting the store was. It was cluttered but a good type of cluttered. Art was up on the walls and there were shelves everywhere, Olivia had taken her to a music store. Olivia beckoned Courtney to follow her into a corner of the store and they walked past many shelves containing CD’s until they hit the vinyl section.   
“Okay so like, tonight I figured we could kinda play a game where we go places but everywhere we go we pick out something for the other person. So for example, we are gonna pick out vinyls or CDs for each other here, and wherever we go next we pick something out for each other.” Olivia said as she gestured to the whole store. Courtney smiled and nodded, it was a good idea and she knew she would have fun with this.   
The two girls roamed the store and when they were on the same row they would hide the contents they picked out for each other. They searched for music for about forty minutes and after they bought their music they reviewed everything they picked out for each other outside on a bench.   
Olivia had picked out the albums Cradlesong and The Great Unknown by Rob Thomas along with Pure Heroine by Lorde and the Inception movie soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. Courtney thought it was an odd choice but Olivia insisted that it was worth listening to. Courtney pulled out Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper, Because the Internet by Childish Gambino, and Evolve by Imagine Dragons. Both were excited about their new music and walked down the street to a coffee shop.  
There, Olivia picked out an iced chai vanilla latte for Courtney and Courtney picked out passionfruit tea for Olivia. They sipped on their drinks as they sat in the small shop as the song 400 Lux played softly in the background. After coffee they went out and walked to the bookstore. There Olivia chose the books Different Seasons and The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King because they were some of his only books that weren’t scary. Courtney chose Eragon and its sequel, Eldest. Olivia suggested that the two of them go back to her place so they could listen to their new music and possibly read a little and just hang out. Courtney was up for the idea, Olivia sent Shayne a quick text saying that they were going to be at their place, and the two were on their way.  
At the apartment the two girls cuddled up under the pillow fort that was still up and ate the leftover candies while Hold On Forever by Rob Thomas played over the stereo system. Courtney was talking about something she did with her sister when Olivia started to zone out and just focus on the other girls face. She watched her lips move and before she even realised it they were kissing.  
Things moved so fast and soon enough they were slowly making out under the fairy lights and blankets. The kisses were soft and sweet and Courtney’s fingers tangled in Olivia’s hair as Olivia’s arms wrapped around the bolds waist. The second they pulled apart from one another both girls turned into a giggling, giddy messes. They felt like teenagers again, and they loved it, and laid back down under the pastel blankets with messy hair and blushing cheeks.

+++

Shayne waited outside Damien’s apartment eagerly. His helmet was neatly tucked under his arm and he held his spare one in his other hand and his leather jacket was zipped up all the way. The sun had already set and the city was already lit up like the stars. Damien soon sauntered out of his building and waved a shy hello to his friend.  
“So why do I have to wear a leather jacket?” Damien asked as he stood in front of Shayne, shifting his weight from side to side as his hands were jutted into his jeans. Shayne moved to the side to show off his whole bike and handed the full face helmet to the brunette.  
“Leather is the only way to travel on a bike.” Shayne said nonchalantly as he straddled the bike. “You ever ridden on one of these?” He asked as he brushed back his hair, about to put on his helmet.  
“Uh, no I have not.” Damien said as he looked at the bike, slightly intimidated. Shayne looked effortlessly cool as he has his helmet resting on his lap as he leaned over the sportbike.  
“Well,” Shayne said sitting up and gesturing to the bike, “my bike is a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R ABS, 2016 model. Which is just a really fancy name for a bike that is aerodynamic and fast. So because it’s a sports bike that means I’m hunched over it and you’ll be hunched over holding on to me. So, it’ll be kinda tight quarters. You alright with that?” Shayne asked, Damien nodded his head nervously and Shayne gave his award winning smile. “Okay cool. Zip up your jacket so you don’t get cold and hop on and we can be on our way!” Shayne said excitedly He slipped on his helmet and clipped the buckle, Damien put on his helmet then propped himself onto the backseat, leaned forward onto Shayne, and wrapped his arms tightly around Shayne’s waist.  
Shayne sped off onto the street and around the corners and he felt Damien’s grip tighten slightly. He just laughed and shook his head a bit. He was overjoyed, excited, and couldn’t wait for the date to really kick off. As they rode through the streets he truly felt free.

+++

Damien laughed as he sat on the bench next to Shayne as they ate their ice cream. Damien had gotten a scoop of chocolate in a dish and Shayne had stuck with a vanilla milkshake. They were laughing because Shayne made a joke and both laughed so hard some of Shayne’s milkshake came out of his nose which caused even more stomach hurting laughter from both the boys.   
Shayne watched the other boy laugh and admired him. He was wearing a simple red t-shirt with his black leather jacket and dark washed jeans and black combat boots. The outfit was simple and Shayne assumed that he probably didn’t sweat over his clothes as much as he did, but he still looked good. He still looked perfect. His hair was a glorious mess and Shayne admired his smile that had some slightly crooked teeth. Shayne continued to smile and went to brush a couple strands of hair out of his face.  
But Damien noticed this and reached forward and brushed the blond hairs out of the others face for him. Shayne looked up at the taller guy and his cheeks tinted with blush as he giggled slightly. He put his hand over Damien’s which was now on his cheek and both smiled.   
Shayne looked down at Damien’s lips that were curled into a small smile. He leaned forward and so did Damien and the gap between them closed. The kiss was soft and sweet, both smiling into the kiss as Shayne’s fingers were carded in Damien’s hair as Damien’s hands were resting on Shayne’s hips. The ice cream was sitting on the bench, long forgotten and the people on the city streets bustled past their bench.   
The ride back to Damien’s house consisted of Shayne driving slightly slower than usual so Damien could admire the city streets going past them. The night sky was filled with stars and Damien looked up at them as his arms were wrapped tightly around Shayne’s waist. At his apartment they kissed again on his doorstep, it was full of smiles and it was syrupy sweet.  
Then things got not so sweet and soon enough clothes were being pulled off and zippers were being ripped. Both stumbled into the bedroom, lips still attached, hair a mess and eyes clouded with lust. They fell onto the bed, skin on skin and the air was filled with moans. It was a glorious mess and soon the bedsheets were on the floor and both were out of breath, and Shayne was sending Olivia a text that said he wouldn’t be home.


	18. Reopening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So yes, this fic will be ending in two chapters but don't worry! It'll be super happy and cute! Thank you so much for keeping up with me and I love you guys so much and I can't wait to share my next work with you guys!

It was a Friday evening and also the grand reopening of Circus. The club had finally been finished being remodeled and for the most part things were the same but there were a few changes here and there. The guest list for the night was the largest it had ever been and even a few celebrities and high class socialites were making a visit to the club. Although private dances were off the menu for the night, everyone knew that the club would be popping and that they were going to be rolling in money by the end of the night.   
It was 6 o’clock and everyone was piled into Sarah’s apartment. The air was filled with excitement and nerves and the smell of take out. Olivia was sitting next to Courtney on top of the kitchen counter and they were eating their lo mein and shared small smiles. It has been a few weeks since their first date and since then they had gone on many more, even a double date with Damien and Shayne. It was nice to have the air cleared of drama and instead filled with happy lovers.   
Ian shouted for everyone to quiet down so Sarah could reveal the new costumes she made in celebration of the reopening. Joven helped her wheel the clothes rack out into her living room and everyone cheered and clapped at her new creations. The theme she had chosen was burgundy velvet with gold accents, she had even made all the girls pair of gold bedazzled heels. She handed everyone their costumes and they all went into rooms to try them on. The girls went into Sarah’s bedroom and the boys stayed out in the livingroom.   
Olivia marveled at her costume that consisted of a velvet balconette style bra that had criss cross straps that would go over her back and stomach. Then she had two velvet straps that went on her upper thighs and also had golden trim along with a pair of burgundy panties. She tried it on and looked at herself in the mirror and even caught a smile from Courtney. Courtney had a one piece that was strapless and tight around her figure. She looked like a playboy bunny with her golden fishnets and high heels. Mari has a high neck bralette with golden trim along with a pair of golden boy shorts and cool kimono like styled slip made out of shiny burgundy fabric. Lastly, Boze was wearing a corset styled velvet bra that was strapless along with brazilian styled underwear that had gold trim paired with burgundy fishnets.   
Sarah instructed the girls to keep their hair down for the night and did their makeup so they had dark smokey eyes and thick eye liner along with deep red lipstick. When they were done, they walked out of the bedroom and say all the boys in the livingroom. They all were in shock at the boys and playfully cheered them on as all the boys danced around in the livingroom.  
They all had burgundy jockstrap style underwear that showed off their asses. The girls laughed and admired the boys and gave them pats on the backs for making such a bold statement with their bodies. Keith had a kimono similar to Mari’s and Noah was wearing golden suspenders. Wes had a burgundy and gold trim vest, Flitz had a had like always along with a set of straps that went over his chest. Damien had on a mesh shirt, Tanner was wearing a muscle t, and Shayne was wearing a set of thigh highs and another garter, apparently the last one was very well liked.   
Everyone finished getting ready and soon enough they were ready for the club. Olivia sighed, threw on her trench coat, and grabbed Courtney’s hand as they walked out the door.

+++

The club was in full swing and absolutely packed. Olivia swore she saw Leonardo DiCaprio at some point in the night and Courtney claimed she saw Tom Hardy earlier in the night. They laughed as they sat at the bar, jokingly flirted with some guys there, and drank ginger ales to keep their spirits up. Damien and Shayne gave a duo performance and both girls were at the edge of the stage cheering their friends on the loudest and even threw some of their own tip money up on the stage.   
Then Olivia and Mari did a performance to White Teeth Teens by Lorde on their hoops and they smiled throughout the whole thing. Olivia felt right as she was back up on her hoop and Mari absolutely crushed it with some of her combo moves. It was a breathtaking performance, and both bowed and collected their many many tips at the end. Then Keith went up on the pole, Boze gave a stellar solo performance, and Wes even taught Olivia how to give a proper lap dance while Courtney laughed as she watched the whole thing.  
It was the funnest night everyone had ever had and it wasn’t even over. It was only 11 o’clock by the time Tanner hit the stage and everyone was cheering him on. Sarah even hit the floor and threw some money up on the stage.  
But of course because she did that Tanner took that as an opportunity to pull her up on stage and give her, her own special performance. The group was practically screaming at this and were all laughing at Sarah’s red face as Tanner gave her a very close lap dance, and at the end he finished it off with a kiss and the team started screaming so loud that the customers started to look confused.  
Sarah kissed him back and blushed at what had just happened, then they retreated to the back room and Flitz and Wes took the stage and danced to Despacito by Luis Fonsi. Mari even got up and joined them and after Mari got up on stage she even pulled Matt away from his job at the bar and dragged him on stage with her.  
Matt could dance, and he could dance pretty amazingly. He busted a few moves and the crowd was loving it, he got off after a couple of moves and everyone cheered as he went back to his job serving drinks. David was practically cackling at what had just happened, it had been the craziest night by far. But before they even realised it, it was almost time for the club to let out which meant that it was time for their special performance.   
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Joven shouted over the mic in his fancy announcer voice, “we have a very special show for all of you. For the first time ever here at Circus, we are giving you a group performance!” The crowd roared with applause and everyone got in their positions. Countdown by Beyonce boomed over the speakers and they all started to move in sync.  
They had all been working on the group performance the past couple of weeks and the choreo was lead by Mari and Flitz. By the time they finished the dance consisted of perfectly in sync dancing and it looked amazing.  
They all moved on stage and Flitz even broke out a couple of his break dancing moves which made the crowd go wild. By the time the song was over the crowd had gone absolutely insane. One last song boomed over the speakers and everyone got off stage and joined the crowd in a very large dance party.  
Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Courtney grabbed Olivia’s hands and pulled her closer. The bounced and danced around together, the lights were flashing different colors and the music shook the floor. Then they came together in a heated kiss and moved in sync. When they pulled away they were in a fit of giggles and continued to dance to the music. They looked over and saw Mari and Wes dancing together along with Tanner and Sarah who had emerged from the back room. Damien and Shayne were also dancing together, almost on top of each other, and both looked happy.  
Olivia smiled and pulled Courtney closer, and they danced into the early hours of the morning.


	19. Staying the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So this work only had one more chapter in it which is kinda sad BUT my new work will be coming out right after so don't worry! Also I just want to say that everyone on here has been so kind to me and I really want to get to know you guys! So I promise this isn't a shameless self promo but feel free to follow me on any of my social medias that are listed on my profile and slide into my DM's! I wanna talk to you guys and get input on my fics or just talk!

Olivia woke up with a mind full of fuzzy memories, aching limbs, and a pounding headache. She pulled herself out from underneath her white comforter and glanced at her phone which read the time 11:15 AM. ‘Shit’ she thought, she had slept in way too late for a Saturday.   
She looked in the mirror and saw that her black hair was a mess and her makeup was still on along with the velvet bra Sarah had made her. Her heels were thrown in a corner of the room and her bag was dumped on the floor. She had no pants on, not even a shirt, and underneath her smokey, now messy, eyes she had dark purple under eye bags. Memories of the night she had started to flood her mind.  
Everyone went back to Ian’s apartment to celebrate the glorious night and of course everyone chipped in and spent some of their money on alcohol. Olivia remembered the blasting music and the dancing bodies of her friends and blurry images of Matt and David teaching her how to make fancy drinks. She remembered Courtney’s smile and the loud laughter of Shayne who was laughing so hard at one of Damien’s jokes he was crying, and she remembered Mari and Wes making out in the corner somewhere.  
“Did I have a shot competition with Flitz last night?” Olivia asked as she walked into the kitchen where Shayne was. He was reading some Stephen King novel and sipping coffee, he seemed absolutely fine.  
“And Boze, she was in it too. You came in second place with four shots while Boze only got two.” Shayne said loudly which made Olivia covered her ears from the noise. “I had to take your sorry ass home after I almost wrestled you away from Courtney, you guys were so wrapped up with each other on the couch you almost morphed into one whole being.”   
“Jesus, what happened last night?” Olivia asked as she poured herself some coffee from the french press.  
“Nothing embarrassing don’t worry, you just got wasted and caught up in celebrating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that drunk.”  
“How come you’re okay?”  
“Didn’t drink.” Shayne said casually as he flipped a page in his book and continued to sip on coffee. “Damien and I prefer to watch everyone’s drunk shenanigans instead of partaking in them. Instead we played Mario Kart on the switch and drank ourselves to death with Dr Pepper.” He said with a faint smile. Olivia smirked and joined him on the couch.  
“Yall are cute.” She said quietly so she wouldn’t worsen her headache.   
“Yall are cute too when you aren’t all over each other in sweaty, drunk states.” Shayne said back. Olivia slapped him with a pillow and he just laughed. 

+++

Everyone was equally as tired and hungover as Olivia was when they showed up at Sarah’s house to get ready for the night ahead. Ian and Anthony predicted it would be even busier tonight because it was Saturday night and word had gotten out that the club had reopened. There were even several news articles about the reopening and the Today show even gave it a mention.  
“Guys! Good Morning America wants to interview the three of us!” Joven shouted as he covered the microphone end of his phone. The group cheered and Ian and Anthony looked like they were going to cry. Things were turning out so good and despite the headache Olivia still had she smiled and cheered with the rest of the group.  
They all ate the pizza Tanner had ordered and put on their blue, silver, and black costumes and did their hair up nicely. Courtney even did Olivia’s hair and curled it into nice loose waves like how hers usually is. Sarah did everyone’s makeup so they had silver and blue swirls on their temples and had thick black eyeliner. Courtney said they all looked like water sprites or fairies, Olivia thought that was cute.  
“Do you maybe, wanna sleep over at my place tonight? Maybe play some video games or watch some netflix or something? It could be like a slumber party or something, you can use my shower and everything.” Courtney asked shyly. Olivia smiled and held the other girl’s hand lightly.   
“I’d love to, as long as whatever we play or watch isn’t scary. Unless it’s like, Stranger Things, which isn’t supposed to be that scary but it kind of is for me. I still like it though.” She said to Courtney. The blond smiled and nodded her head.   
“Just come back to my place with me tonight, you can borrow some of my clothes and I have an extra toothbrush you can use.”

+++

Olivia had been in Courtney’s apartment many times before, she had even slept over a couple of times. But this time was different, this time they were dating and were closer than they’ve ever been before. Courtney’s apartment was illuminated by fairy lights, the multi-colored ones that made the room have a pink hue to it.   
The apartment was much smaller in comparison to Olivia’s, but it made sense because Courtney lived alone. She had a small livingroom with a desk and computer set up in the corner, a stack of PS4 games were on a smaller table next to it along with the console itself. Then there was a love seat against the wall and a tv in front of it but also close to it. The doorway lead to Courtney’s bedroom which had a small twin bed in the corner and on the other side was the kitchenette and big window. Another doorway lead to her bathroom and all throughout the apartment the fairy lights hung on the ceiling. Olivia liked the apartment and set her bag on the floor next to the couch and settled herself on it.   
“So what’s the plan?” Olivia asked as she kicked off her sneakers. She felt oddly energetic even though she had just worked at the club. Courtney felt the same and beckoned Olivia to come over to her computer area where she was pulling out another rolly chair from her bedroom.  
“I was thinking we could play Lego Star Wars.” She said with a smirk and pulled out two controllers.

+++

“Go, go, go!” Olivia almost shouted as she mashed buttons on her controller. It was almost 5 in the morning and both girls were going full frontal in Lego Star Wars. They had completed episodes 1-6 in quick time and were now on The Force Awakens which was supposedly longer. Courtney was playing as Poe Dameron and Olivia was playing as Finn and they were breaking out of the First Order base with a TIE Fighter.  
Courtney was blasting down doors while Olivia was trying to quickly build parts for the ship. They laughed as they pounded the buttons on their controllers and were soon out of the base and at a save point.   
“Dude, we gotta sleep it’s like 5:30 in the morning.” Courtney said sleepily. “And I still have my makeup on, I think my skin is dying!” She said as she rubbed her eyes which smudged some of her eyeliner. Olivia laughed and they shut down the console and started to get ready for bed.   
Once they were all ready to go and got settled under the covers the sun started to rise. Olivia giggled and Courtney slung her arm around the other girl. Soon they were drifting off to sleep as the city around them started to wake up.


	20. One Last Bow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I just want to say I love all of you guys so much and want to thank you for keeping up with me. Creating this story had been so much fun and I loved seeing your guy's reactions to it. So many people have recommended this fic to others, a mood board was even made, and your comments and support are what keep me going. I hope you keep reading in the future and I hope to even see works of your own! Writing is a wonderful tool and should be utilized by everyone.  
> My next fic should be out soon, and again, thank you so much and I love all of you guys.

Originally the plan was to stay at Circus until Olivia could pay off her college debt but somehow she just ended up staying. Her bills were paid off, she wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck but instead living a pretty luxurious life, and she liked the job anyways. And that is how Olivia Sui became a stripper and stayed one for the past five years.  
But staying at Circus was the best decision she had ever made in her entire life. A year had gone by since she had started dating Courtney and the club had reopened. Courtney was the love of her life and over the past year they found peace with one another in their lives and they couldn’t be happier. Their little dates filled with trips to music shops and cuddling on the couch filled them with love and Olivia finally found what was missing in her life.  
It was a Friday in late November and Olivia was watching the snow flutter from the sky outside her window. It was around seven in the morning, a couple hours before she had to wake up, and she watched the city stir to life. The sun wasn’t predicted to rise, it always stayed dark in winter in the city, but that was okay. Today was going to be a good day.  
So instead she got up and out of bed, through some comfortable clothes on, and went out to the living room/kitchen where her hoop was hanging silently and the fridge was humming quietly. She put her earbuds in and tucked her phone into her leggings pocket after pressing ‘play’ on her playlist. ‘Time’ by Hans Zimmer played softly in her ears and she hopped up onto her hoop and let it spin her around a couple of times before moving into different positions.  
She hung upside down on the hoop, the calming orchestral music playing in her ears, and spun in circles on the hoop. She ran her fingers through her hair and moved into the ‘back star’ position and hung out like that for a bit until moving into the ‘ankle hang’. She moved with the music until the song was over and she was returned into sitting on top of the hoop. Olivia opened her eyes to see Shayne leaning up against the doorframe.  
“You’re supposed to be getting your beauty sleep princess.” She said jokingly after taking out her earbuds and sliding off the hoop. Shayne smiled and moved from the doorframe to the kitchen where he pulled out the materials to make coffee for the two of them. “You nervous for today?” She asked softly. Shayne paused and shrugged his shoulders, then continued to make coffee.  
“Yeah, but I think I’m supposed to be. I’m sure Damien is too, and Courtney, and yourself, and anyone else coming. I just want everything to be perfect I guess.” Shayne replied with a small smile. He was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants which was paired with very messy hair and his bright blue eyes. He could already feel his palms starting to get sweaty and an aching feeling in his stomach.  
“Well, just don’t let the nerves get to you, there’s no possible way for this thing to turn out wrong. Like come on, you got Ian and Anthony planning it, Joven in charge of lights and sound, Sarah made your suits, Courtney’s sister decorated the venue, which by the way looks stunning, and Miel and Pamela found a wonderful caterer. Things will be perfect and don’t you worry bout a thing.” Olivia said reassuringly. She put her hand on Shayne’s shoulder and he smiled at her genuinely.  
“And I’ve got you.” He said back.  
“Yup, you’ve always got me. I mean, we’re best friends right?”

+++

Because Olivia, Boze, and Courtney were girls it wouldn’t of been really fitting to call them groomsmen so instead Flitz came up with the clever name of ‘groom's-friends’ which they thought was way cooler anyways. She put on her light gray pants and white shirt them moved on to tying the bright blue tie. The dressing room was filled with commotion as Olivia and Boze got dressed alongside Shayne, who wasn’t really getting dressed but moreso shaking so much he couldn’t keep hold of his clothing. So after Boze finished getting dressed she helped Shayne put on his black tux and tied his matching blue tie. He thanked her quietly and they moved on to fixing his hair.  
Olivia and Boze kept theirs down and moved on to helping Shayne styled his messy hair into a relatively neat looking quiff. He had already shaved thankfully and both girls had put on their makeup, all that was left was shoes and getting in place.  
‘How’s everything on your end?’ Olivia asked Courtney over text. Courtney was in a separate dressing room with Damien and Flitz, the other groom’s-friend.  
‘Damien is a nervous mess but everything is going good! I can’t wait to see you, I’m sure you look super hot.’ Courtney quickly replied back. She watched as Flitz was helping Damien tie his shoes and straighten his tie.  
‘Hey, hey now, let’s keep it PG!’ Olivia said back before sending a quick ‘I love you’ and then shut off her phone. Ian called out from the hall that it was time for everyone to get in place.  
The plan was that Damien and Shayne were going to enter the room of the ceremony from opposite sides and the same would go for the members of their respected wedding parties. Olivia was Shayne’s best girl and Courtney was Damien’s so they were going to enter together, then Boze and Flitz, then finally Shayne and Damien. Olivia lined up outside the door and double checked that Damien’s ring was in her pocket, then once to music started playing, Ian gave her the cue, and the doors opened and she walked through.  
Olivia was walking in from the right side of the room and Courtney from the left so once they were walking towards to alter they were looking right at one another. Olivia beamed a she saw Courtney who was looking so beautiful in her matching grey and blue suit ensemble. Her hair was nice and wavy and fluffy and her makeup was done to perfection, she had gone with a lovely natural look so she ‘wouldn’t outshine the groom’.  
Courtney was smiling widely back at Olivia and even gave her a small wave. They took their spots on the sides of the altar and watched as the doors opened again and Boze and Flitz made their way down the side aisles and took their spots.  
Then the doors opened for the last time and Shayne and Damien were walking in. Both had on matching suits and boutonnieres, neat hair and sharp looking shoes. The second they saw one another the burst out in tears, which caused Flitz to start crying because he cried from joy easily, and the girls were trying to hold it together.  
Shayne and Damien stood opposite from one another and help hands then started to recite their vows. Olivia took a second to look around and saw all their friends sitting in the pews, along with family members belonging to Damien and Shayne, and a couple other people mixed in. Everyone was smiling and crying and it was nice.  
Ian and Anthony managed to make it into some chairs quietly and were sitting next to their spouses. Mari and Wes were also next to each other, the two of them had managed to also get together during the past year. Then it was Courtney’s sister, Noah, and Keith in another row and Sarah and Tanner were sitting together too. Sohinki and David noticed Olivia looking at them and gave her a reassuring thumbs up. She smiled and returned her attention to the two grooms.  
Then they clashed into a loving kiss and everyone stood up and applauded. Olivia wiped away a few stray tears and ruffled her hair and everyone started to file out of the ceremony and to their cars where they headed to the venue.

+++

The night was filled with dancing, good food, speeches, tears, laughter, and every other thing a wedding entails. Now they were all putting on their coats so they could watch the new happy couple get into a taxi and head to the airport. Ian and Anthony’s gift to the two boys was a week long vacation to various destinations in Europe.  
After Olivia wished her best to Damien, Shayne pulled her aside and gave her a long hug and a light kiss on the forehead. She cupped his face in her hands and wiped the tears off of his cheeks. They smiled at one another and went back in for another warm hug.  
“You’re my best friend Olivia, and if it weren’t for you pushing me to ask Damien out about a year ago none of this would’e happened.” He whispered into her ear. Olivia looked up at him and smiled.  
“I love you Shayne, and I know that this is the best decision you have ever made.” She said back to him.  
“I love you too Olivia, and I know that soon you’ll be doing this with Courtney.” The two friends smiled at one another, went in for one last hug, and then pulled apart and went outside. Shayne hugged everyone else goodbye and joined Damien in the cab, and soon their car was out of sight as they headed to the airport.  
Olivia walked back inside and helped Boze, Flitz, and Courtney load all the wedding gifts into Tanner’s car because him and Sarah were taking the wedding gifts back to Damien and Shayne’s shared apartment that used to be Courtney’s. Then everyone started to help take decorations down and clean up the floors and help the caterers clean up the dishes. Wes and Mari put the rest of the wedding cake in tupperwares and handed out left overs to guests on the way out the door. Soon the venue was clean and good as new, and everyone started to head home.  
The girls hopped into Olivia’s car and headed home to what was once Olivia and Shayne’s shared apartment, but was now Olivia and Courtney’s shared apartment. The drive home was quiet and the album Pure Heroine by Lorde was playing in the stereo system. They both held one another's hands as Olivia drove, and the waited patiently in the NYC traffic.  
“I love you Olivia Sui.” Courtney said after turning the music down a bit. Olivia took her eyes off the road, they were stuck in traffic anyways, and looked at her girlfriend.  
“I’ve always loved you Courtney Miller.” She said back. The blond smiled at her and turned the music back up. And the rest of the ride home was filled with content silence and fading adrenaline.


End file.
